A Warm Haze
by Palnalapax
Summary: Nagisa soon finds himself growing happier after telling his best friend, Karma, about his mother's weird obsession and soon starts debating whether or not he would be willing to hurt his mother for his own happiness' sake.
1. The Party

**Chapter 1: The Party**

Nagisa watched from the other side of the road as Karma threw punches at the three delinquents. He didn't agree to do this, honestly, he was just walking home with Karma when the three older guys showed up and started talking to him. He politely asked them to stop pestering him but they persisted. Soon Karma, being the way he is, felt the need to lead into the alley across the road to beat them up.

A few seconds later Karma was back at his side, with a smirk on his face. Nagisa glanced behind Karma at the other side of the street, only to find the three guys running away with bruised faces. He sighed, "You know, Karma, you could be expelled if the principal saw the things you do. And then you wouldn't be able to assassinate Korosensei with the rest of the class anymore."

Karma chuckled and slung his arm over Nagisa's shoulder before replying, "Ah, then I would just sneak up the mountain and kill the octopus while he's distracted." Nagisa sighed again before grabbing Karma's hand to remove his arm from the back of his neck. The two continued to walk down the street in silence until they came to Nagisa's house.

The aforementioned bluenette gave a slight wave and a small "goodbye" before disappearing into his house.

The redhead stood in front of the small house and looked down at the hand that his friend had just grabbed and found himself blushing for some reason. He tsked before shoving the hand into his pocket and continuing down the street.

* * *

Nagisa, now in his house, removed his coat and hung it on its hook next to the door. Seconds later his mother walked into the room. He looked up to find her staring at him disapprovingly.

"Nagisa-chan, get dressed; we have to go to a dinner party for the company." Nagisa was a bit confused as to why he had to come but he quickly realized his mother just wanted to show him off. He stopped himself from glaring at her back as she left the room.

He took off his shoes and put on his pair of blue slippers before walking down the hall to his room. Once in his room he slipped his uniform shirt over his slim form and removed the gray pants from his pale legs. Now, in his boxers he opened his closet and, pushing aside all of his male clothes, he dug through the back of his closet. Soon, he found a long purple gown that was covered with many ruffles and ribbons around the waist area. Many girls his age would have been jealous of the dress, but, honestly, he hated all of the dresses in his closet.

With a bored expression he slipped the silky dress over his petite form.

* * *

Nagisa stood beside his mother, a dark purple beret on his head, as they waited outside the large house. Sadly, he felt pretty comfortable in the dress, as he had been forced to crossdress on many occasions while he was with his mother. The door was opened seconds later by a man with dark brown hair and amber eyes. As the bluenette looked up at the man's face he thought he looked a bit familiar but pushed that feeling down as the man turned to his mother with a warm smile.

"Welcome Shiota-san. May I ask who the lovely lady next to you is?" He was now looking at Nagisa with the same warm smile.

"Oh, that little girl is my wonderful daughter, Nagisa." She returned the warm smile, genuinely happy. That was probably the only reason Nagisa didn't leave her; he still wanted her to smile and he knew that if he left her she wouldn't smile anymore.

The crossdressing bluenette bowed,his beret covering his head, and smiled at the man before extending his hand for a handshake. He was happy when the man extended his hand too, a lot of the people he met while dressed up always went in for hugs first.

After the handshake he gestured for them to enter. The house was rather lavish with two glass chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling and the cream walls decorated with many ancient looking portraits with ornate frames. The hall was filled with many finely dressed people conversing with each other. After his mother seemed done talking with the cheerful man she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the crowd of minglers.

He felt that his mother had the need to introduce him to every single person at the at the party. He was walking beside her when his skimming eyes stopped on a bright red in the crowd. He squinted. It turned out the red was actually someone's hair. A boy's hair. The world seemed to go into slow motion as the boy turned to him, his amber eyes landing right on him. Their eyes met and the other boy's face turned a bright crimson, almost matching Nagisa's blush.

He froze. He didn't even react when his mother tried to pull him farther into the crowd. But, he did react when the redhead started to approach him from the other side of the hall. He bolted. He bolted and found that he was a pretty good runner. He bolted and found that when you run fast you don't hear your mom shouting at you to come back. He bolted and found that when you bolt it hurts a LOT when you crash into a brown haired, amber eyed man in a fine looking suit.

"And so as I was saying-AHHH!" The man's conversation was cut short as he was slammed onto the floor by a pale blue haired shortie.

The scene would be pretty funny to an outsider. A little girl straddling a grown man's waist. The aforementioned grown man staring blankly at the ceiling as he wondered how he ended up on the floor and the girl who also seemed a bit out of it as she also stared blankly into space. To top it off, a hysterical lady running up to the man and her daughter.

Nagisa slowly stood up from his place on the man's stomach. A sheepish grin on his flushed red face as he apologized to the older man, who, might I add, was just starting to get off of the floor. Nagisa looked down at the man once more and apologized again, "I am very very very sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going and ended up bumping into you."

He reached out his hand to the man, in an attempt to help him up, but, ultimately failed when he felt a sharp pain in his ankle that caused him to let go of the man, who, thankfully, hadn't actually been relying on the girl's strength to stand and managed not to fall.

Now standing, he dusted his suit off and turned to the young girl, "Don't worry about that, but, may I ask if your hurt? Your right ankle doesn't look so good." He said, pointing down at Nagisa's ankle. Nagisa looked down and was shocked to see that his ankle was turning a faint purple.

"It looks like you should get that wrapped. Son, could you get her ankle wrapped? Use the first aid kit in the kitchen." At that moment the redhead Nagisa was trying to get away from stepped out of the crowd with a smirk on his face. He looked at Nagisa's ankle and turned to Mr. Akabane, "Yes, dad, I'll make sure her ankle gets wrapped."

He gestured for Nagisa to follow him and left behind the hysterical woman and his dad. Soon, they were out of the hall and the loud talking faded to a low hum as the two walked down a long hallway. The silence was suffocating and Nagisa looked everywhere but at the face of the boy that was now staring at him.

"So~, you're a girl?" Karma looked over at him with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Nagisa blushed, "No! I'm not a girl! Remember? I was shirtless when we were at Korosensei's homemade pool."

Karma stared a him a bit before speaking, "Yeah, I know you're a boy. So, why are you crossdressing?"

Nagisa looked at Karma a bit longer before leaning his head back and looking up at the ceiling and speaking, "I don't do it because I want to. I do it because..." He stopped, realizing he was about to reveal the one secret he had worked most of his life keeping.

Karma noticed the change in demeanor in his friend but decided that this bit of information was very important at the moment, "Well? Why are you crossdressing? Surely there's a reason for everything."

Nagisa was about to speak when he saw that they were in front of the kitchen, "The first aid kit is in here, right?" He was happy that he now had a chance to change the subject.

Karma nodded to a white chair at the wooden table, "Yeah, just sit over there while I get the kit." Nagisa gladly took the seat, just now noticing that the pain had grown to a constant throbbing.

Karma approached him with a white box in his hand. He got on one knee so that he could see the ankle more clearly before looking up at Nagisa, "You never answered my question. Why are you crossdressing?" He looked back down at Nagisa's ankle, fortunately, else he would have seen the look of shock and distaste on Nagisa's face.

At this point Nagisa knew that there was no getting out of answering this question so he decided he would just answer truthfully and this conversation would end, "My mom. It's my mom that makes me do it. She wanted a daughter and I guess she can't fully grasp the truth. I wouldn't do this voluntarily." Now that he said this out loud he realized how sick it sounded. It seems that Karma thought the same.

"That's sick." Karma was still looking down Nagisa's ankle but it didn't go unnoticed by Nagisa when he gripped the the bandage tightly before continuing to wrap his ankle. Nagisa averted his gaze when Karma looked up at him.

"Nagisa, that isn't right and you know it." He knew this already, of course. He knew that it wasn't right for your parent to force you to be something that weren't. But, he knew if he said something about it only worse would come from that. No, he couldn't tell anyone else about this. He sat still, trying to ignore Karma's burning gaze.

"Nagisa, look at me." His voice stern but kind as he spoke. Nagisa willed himself to continue to face away from his friend but found there was no point, seeing as he had just told the boy one of his biggest secrets.

He turned and was surprised when he felt a tear roll down his cheek. Nagisa stared at Karma, knowing he probably looked pitiful and spoke quietly, "I know it's sick. I know that already. But, tell me, Karma, what could I do to change this without hurting my mother."

Karma only stared at him. The next thing he did really surprised Nagisa. His best friend stood up and hugged him. Nagisa sat in his seat, suddenly feeling really sad all of a sudden. He was surprised when he felt more tears forming, getting a choking sensation, as soon there were giant bulbs rolling down his cheek, making it impossible to see through the tears.

Karma hugged him tighter. He didn't expect this. This whole time Karma hadn't made fun of him at all. He could smell Karma's shampoo, they were so close. It was a minty aroma and Nagisa blushed when he realized he was sniffing someone's hair.

The tears had stopped flowing now and Nagisa now rested his head on Karma's shoulder. It was kind of weird, what happened, that is. Nagisa rarely cried over his obvious problems, and when he did he was usually alone in his closet, where he was sure his mom couldn't hear him. He felt strangely tired as he relaxed into Karma's arms. This tiredness was short-lived as his ears immediately perked at the snap of a camera across the kitchen. It seemed that Karma also heard it, seeing as he quickly separated from Nagisa and turned toward the sound. The source of that sound turned out to be 's camera.

He was standing in the corner with the loud camera when Nagisa turned to look at him, missing the flush that took over Karma's face.

"What're you doing here!?" Karma seemed visibly upset about his father showing up. Nagisa just continued to stare at Karma's dad.

The grown man just chuckled, "I was just taking a photo. It seems you've grown a lot since the last time i was home." His eyes moved to Nagisa and he gave the boy a warm smile.

"It turns out you're a very lucky girl. Please take care of my son." Nagisa continued to stare, confused. This man was Karma's father yet the only trait they seemed to share was their eye color. Honestly, they were like night and day. It was really weird. And what was he talking about? How was Nagisa in any way a very lucky girl?

Nagisa seemed to catch on as he appeared extremely flustered and waved his arms frantically in front of his face, "N-no! We're not like that! I'm just one of his friends from school!" The man only stared at Nagisa, a look of confusion adorning his face.

He then smiled, turned towards the doorway, and started walking towards the kitchen exit. But, as he crossed through the threshold he turned to Nagisa with a grin, "Liar."

Nagisa only sighed before turning to Karma, "He kinda reminds me of Korosensei, you know what I mean? Is that guy really your father?"

Karma glanced over at Nagisa and smiled, "Yeah, I know what you mean and, yes, the idiot that just left the room was really my father." He stood up and walked over to Nagisa and extended his hand to the smaller boy.

Nagisa stared at it densely before realizing he was supposed to grab the hand. Gratefully, he took the offer and when he was standing he made sure to lean on his left side as to not hurt his ankle. He stumbled a bit as he took a step forward.

"Let's go back to the party before your mom starts looking for you." He gestured to the door with his other arm and at that point Nagisa realized that he was still holding Karma's hand and blushed a little as he released his grip on Karma's hand. He then followed Karma as the taller boy left the room.

They walked down the hallway in silence, awkwardness starting to settle in. Karma started whistling, which startled Nagisa. It was a tune that was vaguely familiar to Nagisa but he wondered where he had heard it as he walked down the hallway.

Soon they entered the room and had an awkward and short goodbye as Nagisa walked back to his mother. He then realized what the tune was as it was playing softly in the background of the party.

"Where were you? It shouldn't take too long to wrap an ankle." Was the first thing his mom said when she saw him. Nagisa hadn't realized he had been with Karma so long. He decided to stare at his mother blankly.

She stared back at him before deciding that she didn't really care where her son had been in the last fifteen minutes. Nagisa stopped himself from groaning when her mother pulled him through the crowd to introduce him to more people.

But, he found himself smiling a bit when he thought of the events that had transpired that evening.

* * *

 **A/N: Please review/comment. Oh yeah, and please make sure to tell me whether I should continue this or if I should throw it into the fireplace and pretend I never wrote it.**

 **Love,**

 **Palpex**


	2. Nagisa's Room

**A/N: So, some people actually read this. I feel pretty accomplished. So I started working on the next chapter, like right after I got the first review. I'm going to make it my goal to have at least 2000 words per chapter. Please enjoy and please review/fave/follow! I'm not sure how often I'm going to update this.**

 **Chapter 2: Nagisa's Room**

The light streamed into the purple walled room, hitting Nagisa directly in the face. He let out a small groan before pulling the cover off himself and sitting up. He looked down at what he was wearing and realized he was still wearing the dress from the night before, the beret was on the floor.

After swinging his legs over the side of the bed he realized that he had to change before his mother found out that he had slept in these clothes. No such luck, because right then his mom swung open the door with a laundry basket in her arms. Not looking at Nagisa she spoke, "Nagisa, I need to wash the dress from last night."

Nagisa just sat on the edge of his bed before sighing. His mother turned towards him and gasped after seeing his appearance, "Nagisa, why would you wear the dress to bed!?" Nagisa didn't know why he wore it either. It was best to assume that he was tired after the party last night and had forgotten to change into his pajamas. So, he decided to stay silent and receive what was coming to him.

"Nagisa, I paid a lot of money for that dress! You should have changed out of it before sleeping!" She started shouting at him, her eyes fiery with anger. Nagisa continued to listen to her scold him. It was really unfortunate that by now he had gotten used to his mother yelling at him.

"You're so ungrateful! I buy these dresses for you and you don't even take good care of them! Sometimes I wonder in you even love me!" _Sometimes I wonder the same about you._ Nagisa decided it would be best if he didn't voice his thoughts. His mother was angry and he didn't want to find a reason to make her angrier.

She seemed to be calming down a bit now. She turned to Nagisa and her words came out like a growl, "Come downstairs with the dress. You insolent, useless..." Nagisa didn't have to hear the rest of the insults thrown his way because she shut the door as she left his room. The bluenette turned to his alarm clock and realized that it was a school day and he was going to be late at this rate.

He jumped up and pulled the dress over his head. It caught on one of his bracelets as he threw it across the room to the vanity, causing a tear to appear near the top of the dress. Nagisa didn't notice this as he ran to his closet to pull out his uniform and jumped into the pants. It took only a few seconds for him to put on the shirt and to button the vest.

As he exited the room he picked up the dress. He ran down the hallway and found his mom standing by the washer. He showed the dress to his mother and was about to place it in her hands before her eyes hardened into a hard glare, "Nagisa, why is there a hole in your dress?" Nagisa turned the front of the dress towards him also realized there was a hole there that hadn't been there the night before. He knew he was going to get it now.

"Nagisa! This is why you're not suppose to sleep in your clothes! They get damaged and wrinkled!" Nagisa thought back to when he woke up. He hadn't felt a tear in the dress when he woke up. When had it appeared?

His mother glared at him harder before raising her hand and roughly sending it across Nagisa's pale face. This was strange. His mother rarely ever resorted to hitting him. She usually stopped at scaring him until he ran into his room to hide in the closet.

The bluenette fell back from the impact. He was used to the verbal abuse but the physical abuse was something new so he wasn't quite accustomed to it. He stared down at the ground, refusing to meet his mother's eyes. Within seconds she was beside him, trying to apologize, "Nagisa, I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that. Nagisa please forgive me."

Nagisa held his hand over his cheek, the skin now tender and sensitive under his hand. He really didn't know what to say to his mother. She was cruel to slap him just for making a tiny tear in a dress he didn't even want to wear, but, on the other hand, she _was_ his mother and it would be mean of him to hold this against her. So, Nagisa stood up and walked away, leaving his mother on the floor with the dress.

He walked into the kitchen where he found an ice pack in the fridge. After pulling it out he held it too his face as he ate the breakfast that was on the table. Glancing over to the wall clock he realized that there was absolutely no way he was going to get to school on time and sighed. At this point he wasn't in the mood for school.

With a piece of toast it his mouth, he ran down the hall and found that his mother had left the dress on the floor. The boy picked up the dress and threw it into the washer. His cheek was really hurting now and he was getting a headache. He walked into the bathroom and saw in the mirror that he was now sporting a huge bruise on the right side of his face. He pulled the mirror open to get to the medicine cabinet, after pulling out the aspirins he returned to his room.

Now in his room, he opened the bottle and downed one of the pills. He had decided that he wouldn't go to school today, as the giant bruise on his face was destined to make some people suspicious. As he walked across the room to his drawer he tripped. He hadn't noticed until now but his ankle was still sore from last night. Looking down at his ankle, he found that the bruise from last night was already dying down.

Nagisa stood up and continued to his drawer, once there he pulled out a large t-shirt and removed his uniform. He then slid the large shirt over his form and found that it landed right before his knees. He knew he looked a little girlish but he didn't care, as no one would see him like this.

He sat on his bed and sent Kayano a text before lying down.

* * *

Karma sat at his desk, twirling an anti-sensei knife in his right hand. He leaned back in his chair and glanced around the room. His eyes landed on the empty seat near the front of the classroom. The seat that a certain bluenette was usually occupying. It was still homeroom so Karma exited the classroom.

Nagisa was rarely ever late, and when he was he usually told Korosensei the day before that he would be late for class the next morning and Korosensei would notify the class during homeroom. Karma stood outside the Class E building, deep in thought, when the bell rang. Immediately he felt a blast of air as Korosensei arrived for class.

Karma slowly strolled into the classroom as Korosensei started to call roll. The students answered when their names were called, all except Nagisa.

"Anyone know why Nagisa's absent?" Korosensei asked the class from the front of the room. When no one answered Korosensei started babbling. It was then that Kayano received a text from the missing bluenette.

 **Can you tell Korosensei that I'm sick today so I won't be at school?**

Kayano texted him back:

 **OK! Hope you get well soon. (^v^)/**

Kayano raised her hand and spoke when Korosensei recognized her, "Korosensei, Nagisa just sent me a text saying he was sick." Korosensei's face quickly turned blue before sighing and moving to the corner of the classroom. He was obviously saddened by his student's absence.

He sat in the corner of the classroom before Kayano spoke again, in an attempt to cheer their fickle sensei up, "Maybe some of us could visit Nagisa after class."

Korosensei quickly appeared at Kayano's side, his face now back to his normal vibrant yellow, "Nurufufufu~ Are you sure you don't just want to see Nagisa so very badly." Kayano blushed before reaching into her skirt pocket to take out an anti-sensei knife and proceeding to try to stab the class' annoying teacher.

* * *

It was after class that a small group of Class E's student's gathered to visit Nagisa's house. It consisted of Kayano, Karma, Sugino, and Rio. Why was Rio was there? The others didn't ask as Karma led the way to Nagisa's house. The sun shined through the spaces between houses as they came to Nagisa's neighborhood. Karma pointed to medium sized house near the end of the street out as Nagisa's.

Sugino stepped up to the door and knocked. No one answered so he knocked a second time. "It looks like no one is home." Sugino said as he turned towards the group. Rio sighed before crouching and feeling under the welcome mat in front of the door. Her hand came out from under with a key. She smiled, stood up, and put it into the keyhole. The door unlocked.

"Works every time." She said as she put the key back under the mat. Kayano and Sugino gasped before speaking at the same time.

"We can't go into his house! That would be breaking and entering!" Karma and Rio laughed at that. Rio opened the door and stepped in.

The foyer area was pretty plain. It held a few wall portraits, a lot of them being of Nagisa, a dark haired lady, and a blue haired man that could only be identified as Nagisa's father. Rio let out a slow whistle before continuing down the hall. Kayano spoke then, "Have any of you ever been in Nagisa's room?"

Karma answered, "No, me and Sugino usually stay in the living area, but, it should be at the end of the hallway." He gestured to the closed door at the end of the hall. Kayano walked up to the the door and slowly opened it. Only one word could be used to describe the room: Weird.

Rio appeared behind her and burst out laughing. Sugino appeared too and gawked at the purple walls and at the vanity and the... everything. It wasn't that the room was girly. it just looked as if the person living there couldn't make up their mind about what gender they were going to live as. Some of the room was boyish with stuff a normal boy would have, like a few adventure movie posters and some clothes scattered in the corners of the room. The other parts of the room were what you would expect from a girls; purple walls and a vanity (completed with bracelets). No one saw the grimace on Karma's face.

As their eyes traveled through the room they noticed the bump in the bed and the tuft of blue hair sticking out from under the covers. Rio walked over and pulled the blanket off the boy. He let out a groan in his sleep. Nagisa curled up into a ball, now exposed to the four students. His hair covered most of his face and his legs were now under his shirt.

Rio laughed again, "You know what? If I didn't know him I'd swear he was a girl." Kayano nodded as she looked a Nagisa's pale figure. She walked over to the bed and placed the cover back on Nagisa.

"Shouldn't we go now? It would be mean to wake up Nagisa and it would be rude to stay in this house uninvited." Kayano said, now standing next to Nagisa's bed. Rio sighed and sat at the end of Nagisa's bed with a plop, "Nah, we came here so we should enjoy ourselves." Nagisa shifted in bed and his hair fell away from the side of his face. It was then that the four classmates noticed the giant bruise on the side of his face. Kayano gasped and Karma's grimace etched farther into his face. He knew for sure that the only way you could get a bruise like that was by getting hit. And he had an inkling about the person that would treat him like that.

Kayano and Sugino looked worried as they looked at the bruise. It was then that they heard a sound down the hallway. The sound of the front door shutting. The two's worry was soon overcame with fear. Karma walked over to the window and opened it and jumped out, they were only on the first floor. The other three quickly followed.

* * *

As the four students walked down the street, they realized the sun was setting and separated.

Karma walked to the bus stop and angrily brought a strawberry milk at a drink machine. He was pissed. Pissed because last night Nagisa hadn't told about everything his mother did to him and pissed because Nagisa's mother was even crueler than he originally thought. He needed to find a way to help his friend.

* * *

 **A/N: I don't really know where I'm going with the story at this point. For the first chapter I wrote down an idea that had been in my head for a while. For this chapter I wrote down the idea that popped into my head as I was going to bed. *sweatdrops* I most likely will not update for the rest of the week as I need to study next week for midterms. Please forgive me for any mistakes!**


	3. The Case of the Disappearing Bruise

**A/N: I'm alive! I probably could've gotten this out sooner if I had not spent my weekend watching Bakuman and Tamako Love Story AMVs and mornings on LINE webtoons. Nagisa's mom in chapter 167 totally SHOCKED me. I was all like "What the-" So anyway Palpex back and really struggled making this chapter 2000 words. Hope you have a good time reading! BTW why the hell did I name this A Warm Haze? I think I wanted to sound poetic and stuff, you know?**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: The Case of the Disappearing Bruise**

Nagisa had had a pretty bland morning. Things between him and his mother were pretty awkward. How could they not be? His mother was a bit less oppressing the day after she had slapped him. It was almost as it she was worried or scared-no, that's impossible. The night before was when Nagisa had woken up. He had felt a chill in his sleep and found that the window was open. He had assumed that his mother had been in his room and went back to sleep after grabbing something from the fridge.

The next morning when he woke up he found that the bruise was still purple. He went to his vanity, which finally had a use. After opening a few drawers he found what he was looking for- the makeup. It only took a few seconds for him to apply it to his cheek so that his face was back to it's normal state.

Now, he was trudging up the mountain to reach the E-class building. As he walked up the hill he came across Kayano and Sugino. He stopped and waved, "Good morning."

They both looked at him strangely before Sugino spoke, "Were you okay yesterday, Nagisa-kun?"

Nagisa smiled his normal, shy smile before answering, "Yeah, I just had a cold. Nothing to worry about."

Kayano seemed to let out a breathe before speaking, "You sure?"

Nagisa nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

* * *

Karma sat leaning back in his chair, a comic book on his head. Despite his lazy appearance, he was deep in thought. Thoughts about the day before were racing through his head. He was angry, angry that Nagisa hadn't told him that his mother hit him as well as making him cross dress. He could only imagine what else she did to him. He was angry at Nagisa's mother for hitting him in the first place. But, most of all, he was angry at himself for not being able to be there to help Nagisa. He wanted to help the other boy, for Nagisa was someone he didn't want to let go of.

Yet, when the small blunette entered the classroom he acted pettily. Nagisa walked to the back of the classroom to get to the redhead's desk. He waved and smile, "Good morning Karma."

The redhead could hear him but was still angry. He knew he was acting immature but he ignored his best friend. Nagisa studied his friend and his eyes moved to his chest. It was obvious that Karma wasn't asleep by the irregular way it rose and fell. Nagisa acknowledged this before walking to his desk.

Class was pretty normal. Classmates tried to kill Korosensei and failed, Bitch-sensei tried to seduce Karasuma-sensei and failed, and they were taught how to be good little assassins. Yep, normal. The only thing that stood out was Karma seemed to avoid Nagisa the whole time. This worried Nagisa immensely.

At lunch time, instead of eating with Kayano and Sugino, Nagisa walked up to Karma and asked if Karma would eat with him. And, surprisingly, Karma accepted the proposal.

* * *

Nagisa sat on a patch of grass with Karma and opened his bento. Karma watched him instead of opening his bread, making Nagisa self-conscious, "Karma, please stop staring at me and eat your lunch."

Instead, Karma did something unthinkable. He pulled his hand to his mouth and licked his thumb. He then swiped said thumb across the right cheek of the unsuspecting blunette. Nagisa's face turned a crimson red and stuttered through his words, "K-k-karma, t-t-that. W-w-hy t-that...W-w-hy?" He made absolutely no sense.

Karma wasn't paying attention to Nagisa as he continued to stroke Nagisa's cheek until a white powder came off on his hand. Under it he saw the purple-ish bruise he had seen yesterday. Nagisa winced as Karma applied more pressure to his the cheek, the bruise was still very sensitive. He couldn't help himself when the small tears appeared at the corners of his eyes. He reached up and grabbed Karma's hand to stop him from pressing the bruise further.

Karma's hand dropped and he looked at Nagisa before speaking, "Nagisa, your cheek is bruised. And I know I didn't do it." Nagisa froze before quickly recovering.

"Ah, I ran into a pole onto the way to school today." Karma stared at him before retorting.

"Let me guess, you ran into a pole on the way to school and then went back home and covered the bruise with makeup. Nagisa, I'm not stupid; I know it was your mom that did it." His eyes bored into Nagisa's and the smaller boy looked away, uncomfortable under Karma's gaze. Instead of answering his friend, Nagisa fiddled with the green and blue wrapping on his lunchbox.

Karma spoke again, his eyes still on his friend, "Nagisa, why didn't you tell me? Do you not trust me?" Nagisa quickly looked up into his friend's eyes. He expected Karma to be angry but Karma's eyes showed hurt, betrayal, and another emotion Nagisa couldn't quite place.

Nagisa spoke quietly, almost in a whisper, "I just didn't want to put all my problems on you. You might stop liking me and then where would I be?" Nagisa continued to look down at his lunchbox when he felt a weight on his head. He recognized it as a pat and looked up. Karma wasn't looking at him anymore but instead facing the opposite direction. His ears were a vibrant red but Nagisa chose to ignore that fact as Karma continued to pat his head.

Karma glanced at the smaller boy from the corner of his eyes as he spoke, "I'm your friend...so you can tell me. And I'm sure I'm not going to stop liking you anytime soon." Nagisa blushed as Karma let his hand fall to his side and turned fully to face him.

"So, would you please tell me the full story?" He stood on his knees, his hands holding both of Nagisa's shoulders. The smaller boy's bright blue eyes bore into the pair of amber orbs looking down at him. Nagisa was the first to break the eye contact. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before speaking about the events from the morning before.

"Yeah, I'll tell you," He paused and looked at Karma, "It was yesterday morning. I had gotten up and I did something pretty stupid. I slept in the purple dress from the night before even when my mom tells me not to sleep in the dresses she buys me. She really likes that dress so I decided I'd rush and get the dress off. But, the dress got caught on something- I don't know what, and it ripped. That got her really angry and that's how I ended up with the giant bruise on the side of my face."

Karma just stared before the story seemed to register in his mind. "So, your mom slapped you because you ripped a dress that you didn't even want to wear in the first place!?" He yelled, " Honestly, Nagisa, I think your mom really has a problem." Nagisa nodded, he knew that the problem wasn't all him, that his mother also had a problem.

The blunette sighed and lay flat on the grass, "Hmm, maybe this would be better if I was born a girl." He chuckled grimly.

Karma didn't find it half as funny, "Don't say that. That's stupid." Nagisa shifted and looked up at him, a smile played on his lips as he spoke, "Thanks Karma."

* * *

When school finally ended Karma walked over to Nagisa's desk to ask him to walk home with him. The blunette smiled up at him and they left the school together.

Karma glanced down at the blue-haired boy walking beside him. As he studied the smaller boy he wondered how he could actually help his friend without bringing trouble to the boy's mother. He glanced around and noticed a restaurant nearby.

"Hey, Nagisa, wanna grab something to eat?" He pointed to the building across the street. Nagisa glanced at him uncomfortably before speaking quietly, "I'm suppose to go straight home after school Karma."

Karma looked down at him again before slinging his arm around Nagisa's shoulder, which earned him a blush. He spoke, "Nagisa, I'll make sure nothing happens;just get something to eat with me. It's kinda sad going to a family restaurant alone." He faked a pout.

Nagisa sighed, "Fine, I'll go with you."

Karma grabbed his wrist and pulled him across the street to the restaurant. He opened the door and Nagisa stepped in. The redhead guided Nagisa to a booth in the corner and sat down. While waiting for the waitress to come Karma tried balancing a stray straw on his nose, when it fell he let out a whimper. Nagisa laughed. A woman in a pink outfit then came by with a note pad.

"Anything I can get you two?" Nagisa studied the menu for a few minutes and found nothing that he was particularly interested in eating. By the time he looked up the waitress was gone and Karma was playing with the corner of the menu.

"What happened to the waitress?" Karma glanced up from the oh-so-interesting menu and answered, "Oh, you were taking too long so I just went ahead and ordered for the both of us."

Nagisa sighed and took his homework out of his bag. He placed the book on the table and got to work. Sadly, it was math so he mostly just sat and stared at the first problem, hoping it would work itself out. Karma studied him for awhile before reaching across the table and grabbing the math book from Nagisa. He looked at it for a second before placing it on the table and turning it towards Nagisa.

He pointed to the first problem and spoke, "You have divide there." Nagisa did as he said and turned to the back of the book. He was correct.

"Thanks." Nagisa said as he began to work out the similar problems. They sat in silence, only the sound of pencil on paper until the waitress came back with a tray.

She smiled as she placed the tray on the table, "Here's your meal." The two boys thanked her and she hurried of to a nearby table. Nagisa looked at the tray and saw that it was sushi; his favorite. Karma picked up an egg one with a piece of chopsticks before sliding the tray over to Nagisa.

The blunette set his homework aside and picked up a piece of sushi. They mostly ate in silence, only the scratching of chopsticks on the tray could be heard. That is, until the last piece.

The two boys stared at the seaweed wrapped rice. It was probably one of the most simple pieces of sushi either had seen. But because it was the last one it was special. The urge to have the last piece was obvious on both of the boy's faces. Nagisa stood on his knees and reached over to retrieve the "delicacy" but as soon as he grazed the seaweed wrapping his chopsticks were swiped at.

He looked up. Karma stared blankly at him. He attempted a second time. His chopsticks were swiped at again.

At that table the war of The Last Sushi erupted. The two chopstick armed men fought brutally. Chopsticks were injured and tiny splinters flew, one of them almost hitting Nagisa's eye. The war ended as quickly as it began. The pair of chopsticks slipped from Nagisa's grip and slid across the table. He jumped towards them but, alas, it was too late. They were already on the floor.

Karma took this moment and quickly grabbed the sushi with his pair and dropped it into his mouth. Nagisa turned and gasped; he had lost. Karma reached for a napkin and spat the food out into it. Nagisa whimpered.

Karma glanced over at him and smiled as he spoke, "It was covered in splinters." Karma laughed.

Nagisa stared out the window as a single tear rolled down his cheek. He whispered softly, "A great battle has been lost today." Karma glanced at him before laughing harder.

* * *

The setting sun cast an orange glow on everything it touched. The two boys laughed as they came to a stop in front of Nagisa's house. Nagisa smiled as he waved his friend goodbye. Karma stared as the door closed, the blue-haired boy disappearing behind the oak door. He smiled as he slipped his hands into his pockets and slowly continued down the street.

What he didn't hear was the shouting of Mrs. Shiota as her son arrived home late. What he didn't see was the small boy running to his room with tears forming at the edges of his eyes. What he didn't feel was the fear as the boy stood at his open window, debating whether he should leave his mother or not.

* * *

 **A/N: FLUFF! FLUFF! FLUFF! Dark undertones at the end! :-(**

 **Took forever editing this because I stink at spelling and grammar. Prolly gonna update in next 2 weeks.**

 **With love, sweat, and effort,**

 **Palpex**


	4. Disappointment

**Chapter 4: Disappointment**

The young blue-haired boy waved good-bye to his friend, a wide smile adorning his face. Today had been a good day, he decided. He had gotten to hang out with his best friend after school and had gotten some reassurance that someone in the world actually cared about him. It was a nice feeling, having someone you can depend on, that is. Karma was someone he could trust, talk to, and lik-no, he wouldn't think of that-without worries.

As the boy shut the door he smiled softly to him self, a blush starting to appear on his cheeks. As soon as he was in the safety of the house he let the blush overtake his face. He collapsed against the door and cradled his face in his hands. He couldn't really help liking Karma, Karma was so nice to him and was more understanding then any other person he had ever met. He looked down at his hands and laughed to himself. He really had a problem.

He lifted his head and was about to walk to his room when his eyes landed on the black haired woman he called his mother. The angry scowl on her face was definitely not flattering. Her eyes locked with his and he felt as if he had been turned into a tiny ant that she was about to step on. His stare faltered.

Mrs. Shiota took a step closer, then another, and then another one. She now stood right in front of her son. The black-haired lady placed her hand on her son's shoulder and leaned in real close. Her breath hot on the boy's ear, she spoke, "Where've you been, Nagisa?"

The boy did not answer and when he tried to shrug off her hand, she gripped him even more roughly. He winced and let out a small yelp. She repeated the question, "Where have you been, Nagisa?"

Nagisa took a deep breath before speaking quietly, "I was with a friend. We just grabbed something to eat after school."

The woman turned to look him in the eye and her words came out like a growl ,"I always say to come home right after school. It's a very simple instruction. You leave school. You come home. You're not to hang out with your _E-class_ friends after school." She said "E-class" as if it was disgusting filth that didn't deserve to be mentioned.

Nagisa clenched his fist. It was one thing when she criticized him, but something totally different when she said stuff about his classmates. He let out a shaky breath and spoke louder than the last time, "Would it have been fine if I was with people from the main building?"

She stared at him before releasing his shoulder and smiling. "Yes.", was the sickly sweet answer. She started to turn away from him.

Nagisa grabbed her arm before she could fully turn away from him. His words were ridden with venom, "I'm not going to hang out with the snobby main school students. I should be able to hang out with the members of my class, even if you don't approve of them, _mother_."

She turned towards him, her face twisted in rage, a dark aura engulfed the room. Nagisa shuddered and realized he should've just let her be. She roughly grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her. She lowered her face so they were looking directly at each other. The poison in her words was ten times thicker than Nagisa's as she spoke, "You will follow the order and will come straight home after school. Something you won't do is hang around that E-class filth after school. If you don't feel like doing that I could hire a home tutor for you so you wouldn't have to go to school."

The boy stood stiffly, frozen in place because of the threat. He had no doubt in his head that she would carry out the threat if he did not obey her. She was conniving, manipulative, and cruel. He lowered his head and murmured to himself. She lowered herself to him to hear him better.

He spoke loudly this time. Dripping with sadness, the words fell from his mouth, "You don't love me, do you? You've never loved me, have you? You would've if I was a girl! You would've if I stayed in the main building! Why can't you be happy with me? And now you're even going to take away one of the few places I can be happy in." He lifted his head, knowing there were tears rolling down his cheek and questioned quietly, almost in a whisper, "Is it too much to ask you to love me?" His voice broke as he began to sob.

He shuddered when he felt his mother's hand on her shoulder, almost as if she were comforting him. He looked up and found his mother looking down at him, a small smile on her face and her eyes full of sadness. She opened her mouth and Nagisa's eyes filled with hope. She would finally say the word he'd waited so many years to hear. "I love you."

But, she did not say those words, instead she took a deep breath and spoke with that comforting smile on her face the words he'd heard so many times throughout his life, "I'm disappointed, Nagisa. You could do so much better yet you don't even try; you don't work hard enough." She squeezed his shoulder and headed to the kitchen.

The blunette stood rigidly still, the words she spoke ringing in his ear over and over again. So many times he'd heard those words from her. So many times he stood and took the abuse gracefully. So many times he'd smile at her and agree to work harder. But this time he didn't take it gracefully, this time he didn't agree with her. This time he showed that he was as weak and sad as his mother thought he was.

The young boy realized that no matter what he would always be a disappointment. He would always be a nuisance to his mother. He would never be approved by her. He would never be _loved_ by her.

Nagisa slowly plodded to his room. He opened the door and walked in. He slowly closed the door behind himself and sunk to the floor. The poor boy crouched on the other side of the door and, in the safety of his room, cried. It wasn't a pretty cry, either. He wailed and choked on his sobs as the tears streamed down his face. The blunette gripped and pulled at his own hair as he wailed. Tears wet the top of his uniform as they dripped from his chin. His cries echoed through the room as he didn't hold back his sadness.

It was rare, really, for the boy to cry. When he was younger he cried but after a while grew accustomed to his mother's constant abuse. When had he started crying again? Yes, it was when he told Karma his problems. That was when he started expressing himself more through tears again, that was when he started caring more about himself and less about his mother.

The boy gripped at his sides as the tears continued to fall and his body shook with emotion. He felt conflicted. A large part of him told him he was being selfish when said those things to his mother, that he was being cruel to her when he thought horrible things about her. Another part of him, a much smaller part, told him that he should be able to think these things, that it was his prerogative, that his mother _was_ cruel. The voice was small in his head yet it seemed to be speaking louder than the other voice, the voice he'd been listening to since the first time he registered that forcing a boy to be a girl was wrong.

The blue haired leaned against the door as he tried to stand on his shaking legs. He felt the lump in his throat disappear as the sadness in his heart shrank. He decided that he would listen to the smaller voice today.

The boy reached under his bed and pulled out a navy blue gym bag. He had brought it years ago when he had been debating running away from home but hadn't gone through with it. This time, however, he would do it, and he wouldn't think about his mother. She didn't love him, so she would be fine if he was gone.

* * *

The blue-haired boy stood in front of the small house. It was cool outside yet he had an undeniable warm feeling in his chest. A smile was on his face as he turned from the house. Hanging from his shoulder was the large duffle bag. In it were most of his clothes and a few necessities. He wore a green coat and a pair of khaki cargo pants. With his hands stuffed in his pockets, Nagisa walked down the street. As he walked he had a different feeling come over him. Nervousness overcame him as he continued down the street he'd walked down so many times before. Questions started taking form in his head.

Now that he was gone what would he do? Where would he go? What if his mother found him?

The uneasiness grew to fill his chest as he came to the end of the street. He found himself frequently glancing back at his house. When he turned the corner he couldn't look back at the house so he continued forward without stalling.

* * *

Darkness settled over his surroundings as he walked down the street. Soon, he came to the train station. It was getting cold so he went into the restaurant and bought a coffee. He walked back to the platform.

The effeminate boy stood at the train station with the coffee hands. He was able to see his breath, it was so cold out there. As he stood on the platform he wondered where he would go. He could anywhere, anywhere the train pass would take him. The bluenette had dreamt of going somewhere far away from his mother before. Now, he could do that. There was nothing stopping him, except himself.

He looked down at his sneaker-clad feet and groaned. He really didn't want to leave the place he had grown to love. Leaving this place would mean leaving E-class, Korosensei, and Karma. His thoughts wondered to the redhead that had been so kind to him over the past few days. Karma had been the person he thought about mostly lately. But, was a simple crush worth staying with his mother, in that horrid woman's prison? A guy that he was sure didn't like him back in that way. No, of course not.

He was startled out his thoughts when a pale boy tapped him on the shoulder. He glanced up to see two brown eyes staring at him. The boy looked a little strange to Nagisa but he couldn't quite figure out _why_ he looked strange. They stared at each other for a few seconds before the black-haired boy broke eye contact and cleared his throat before speaking in a soft but clear voice, "Are you going to get on?"

Nagisa stared at him before looking forward. The train had arrived and people were piling in. Nagisa sipped his coffee as he waited for the crowd to thin out a bit. He noticed that the boy that had asked him the question continued to wait by him. When the crowd thinned out Nagisa was the first to step onto the train.

He scanned the length of the train and spotted a space near the back of the train. When he sat down the brown-eyed boy from earlier sat down next to him. Nagisa stared out the window as the train finally started to move. The sun had set a while ago and the landscape was covered in shadows. The boy next to him cleared his throat and Nagisa turned to him. The boy held a foiled wrapped piece of gum out to him and asked quietly, "You want some?"

Nagisa nodded his head and took the piece. As he chewed it the boy spoke again, this time a bit louder, "What's you're name?" Nagisa smiled and answered, "Nagisa Shiota. I'd rather be called by my first name."

The boy smiled shyly and then spoke, "My name is Chiba Miyasuki, but you can call me Chi, Nagisa-chan." Nagisa sweat dropped and spoke quietly as he said the words he'd said so many times before, "Actually, it's Nagisa- _kun._ I'm a male, Chi-kun."

Chi stared at him shocked before a smile erupted and covered the bottom half of his face. His eyes gleamed when he spoke, "That makes us the same, Nagisa-kun." Nagisa stared at him, shocked at the change in his demeanor. The blunette looked at him before he questioned the other boy nervously, "How are we the same?"

Chi's smile stayed on his face as he answered, "We both get confused for the opposite gender, even you thought I was a guy and I thought you were a girl." Nagisa stared at hi-no, _her._ It made some sense, though, the fact that Chi was a girl. Something was off with her face that made her look slightly more feminine than guys.

Nagisa scratched the back of his head as he looked down, a bit embarrassed for thinking Chi was a boy. He glanced up at her and apologized, "Sorry for mistaking you for a boy." Chi smiled at him and shook her head before speaking , "It's alright since I confused you for a girl; plus, I'm pretty used to it now. I even get stares when I go to the girls room. I'm sure you know what I mean." Nagisa nodded. He did know what she meant. He would also sometimes get stares whenever he went to the boy's room because of his feminine appearance. It was really annoying and agitated him a lot. But, of course, he accepted that part of his life.

Chi soon started rambling about some movie that had come out recently. Nagisa found that though she came off shy she was really, REALLY talkative. She talked and talked and soon the boy felt his eyelids grow heavy and surrendered to the enticing arms of sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: Anyway, this chapter sucks, I'm kinda embarrassed of it. I've had MAJOR writer's block lately (therefore updating 5 minutes before midnight, the day I said I was going to update). I've also been shopping for Christmas gifts to give my friends. And the cover I just drew and uploaded is also pretty sad. Oh yeah, so I guess I gave Nagisa a friend 'cause "when in doubt give the main character of your fanfic a friend". Haven't heard that? Okay. The Karmagisa ship is still strong, but I guess I wanted to give Nagisa someone who was similar to him, since Karma isn't much. I'm sleepy and have been kind of depressed because of some sad JubyPhonic songs.**

 **PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I'm lonely and need ideas!**

 **With headaches, callouses, and sleep depravity,**

 **Palpex**


	5. Text Message

**Chapter 5: Text Message**

Nagisa fell into a horrible sleep. Most of his dreams consisted of his mother yelling at him for leaving and punishing him severely. In some of his dreams his mother was crying and begging him to come back home-those just annoyed him. His dreams stopped abruptly when he gained consciousness.

Nagisa slowly opened his blue eyes and was surprised to see Chi only inches away from his face. He yelped a little when she flicked him on the forehead. He rubbed his the spot she flicked and whined, "Why'd you do that?" Chi smiled at the question and then crossed her arms over her chest and spoke, "You've been asleep for, like, two hours. You've probably missed your stop!"

The blunette continued to rub his forehead before realizing what she said. He looked at his watch, it was a bit past twelve midnight. Despite not really having a set destination, he wasn't planning on staying on the train that long. They'd probably reached the outskirts of Tokyo by now. The small boy wondered how far he was planning on going. Nagisa looked down at his hands and wondered how far _he was going to go with being a runaway_. When would he stop running? Where would he end up? A thought hit Nagisa; he could probably go to his father. He quickly pushed the thought away, though. He didn't even have his dad's number since it was his mom that organized all of the times they hung out. And when they did hang out his mother didn't allow him to go home with her former husband. So, he didn't know where his dad lived or how to contact him because of his mother's controlling nature. He closed his eyes and let out a small sigh, pushing the thought out with the breath.

Chi looked at Nagisa as the small boy seemed to be brought back to reality. Chi pondered what exactly Nagisa was just thinking about so seriously, but that thought quickly left as another one replaced it, "Hey, Nagisa, where are you going anyway?" Chi asked curiously. Nagisa glanced at her and looked down before quietly answering, more to himself than her, "I actually don't even know where I'm going…I didn't really think this through."

The black-haired girl curiously peered at the smaller teen before speaking, "What did you not think through and how do you not even know where you're going?"

The effeminate boy placed his now clenched fists in his lap, his eyes now closed tightly, as if he were debating something. Chi was about to withdraw her question when Nagisa let out another breath and looked up at her, his eyes filled with resolve. The blunette smiled before speaking in a small voice, "I didn't really think about where I would go after I left home. I kinda just left without planning what I would do afterward." He chuckled a little at the end but it came out bitter.

"Why would you leave home?" Chi immediately regretted asking when an acrimonious expression took over Nagisa's face. This time the boy didn't talk so Chi slouched in her seat and studied the black zipper on her coat. She continued this until she noticed the blunette shuffling beside her.

Nagisa sat in his seat, his arms now searching the navy blue duffel bag she'd seen him carrying earlier. Interested in what the blunette was searching for, Chi now sat up in her seat as she watched the blue-haired boy dig through the bag. It was a few seconds later when Nagisa pulled out a blue cellphone.

Nagisa had put it on silent earlier so that if his mother called or sent him a message he wouldn't have to deal with it. The blunette scrolled through the messages and calls he got and was slightly disappointed when there were only two calls from his mother. She had left a voice message on the second call. He clicked it and it played, loud enough that Chi could hear it.

 _"Nagisa, I don't care where you are for the night but make sure to be back home by tomorrow. I'm your mother and you will make sure to follow my orders…and you will be punished for this stunt."_ The message quickly clicked off. Chi looked at the blunette, she'd heard the message and she honestly thought that Nagisa's mother sounded like a genuine asshole. Whose mother leaves a message like that after their child leaves the house without their knowing and is still gone past midnight.

She studied Nagisa as he continued to look at the phone. He didn't seem like the type of person who would leave home just to get attention, in fact, he seemed like the type of person that wanted to avoid attention from people. She was about to comfort the small boy when he let out a sigh and smiled sadly before turning the phone off and slipping it into his coat pocket.

The girl sat and stared at his calm reaction to a message she would have been pissed to hear. What she didn't know is that Nagisa was used to these types of things. He was used to his horrible mother that cared more about her orders than the feelings of her own child. It was sad, but he was used to the way his mother treated him. Other kids might have been upset and expressed this unhappiness but after what happened with his mother earlier he felt he had a little too much expressing himself for the day and decided to keep this unhappiness inside, even when Chi looked at him sympathetically.

* * *

The redhead walked down the street, a green-haired girl and a black-haired boy, Sugino, trailing behind him. The redhead was hiding it well from the other teens but in his heart he was truly worried for his blue-haired friend. The people following him wouldn't understand his worries, as they didn't even know _why_ he was so worried.

His friend hadn't been at school and he knew that the boy wasn't sick as he'd been with him the night before and the blunette had been energetic and perfectly fine. He'd texted his friend several times during school but hadn't gotten any answers and whenever he'd tried to sneak out the damned octopus had caught and stopped him. His pace quickened as his friend's house came into view.

The three teens stood outside the house. Kayano glanced at the door nervously, a few oranges in her hand, assuming that Nagisa would appreciate them as a gift since he was thought to be sick by the green-haired girl. Karma had already knocked twice and was ready to take the key from under the mat when the door opened to reveal a black-haired woman. Her smile faltered slightly at the sight of the three children but quickly spoke to cover it up.

"Hello, I'm guessing you guys are friends of Nagisa." She spoke cheerfully but Karma could easily see the joy didn't reach her eyes. Kayano nodded happily and smiled at Nagisa's mother before speaking, "Yes, we are friends of Nagisa's from school. We came because he wasn't at school and we were worried he was sick." She held out the oranges for emphasis.

The woman smiled and spoke softly, "Ah, thank you for coming to visit Nagisa. I'm sorry to say this but I can't invite you in since I'm afraid you might catch what he has and spread it to the rest of your class." Kayano looked a bit dejected but continued to offer the oranges.

"Well, can you give him these? And," She reached into her vest pocket. "Our teacher asked us to give him his homework." She handed both the oranges and the paper to the woman.

The woman thanked the three teens and they started towards their respective homes-at least the two smaller teens did. The redheaded boy quickly ran back to his friend's house as soon as he was sure the two others wouldn't see him.

The redhead vigorously knocked on the door and waited for the black-haired woman to open it again. When the door opened the woman was visibly surprised to see him again, "Is there some-"

She was quickly cut off when the hotheaded teen glared at her and spoke, "I know he isn't sick." The woman paled but quickly composed herself and lied, "He is sick. I just told you and your friends a few minutes ago."

Karma let out an annoyed sigh, "Just let me see him. I won't report you if you hurt him because Nagisa doesn't want to bring you down it seems." Mrs. Shiota stood rigidly still when the redhead's words registered in her head. She was about speak when she found that the redhead wasn't even in front of her anymore. The woman glanced around when she heard footsteps behind her.

Karma rushed down the hall to where he knew the blunette's room was. The first thing he noticed is that the opened closet was filled with dresses and only had one or two pieces of male clothes. The second thing he noticed is that his friend wasn't even in the room. He was about to dart into the hall to check out the other rooms when he heard a voice speak from behind him, "He's not here."

Amber eyes landed on the black-haired woman, who nonchalantly was leaned against the doorframe. "What do you mean 'he's not here'?" He said angrily from his side of the room. She sighed, "I meant exactly what I said. He's not here."

Karma stepped closer to the woman, who wasn't getting intimidated by his angry glare. The exasperated teen's words came out like a growl, "Where is he then?" Mrs. Shiota ran a hand through her jet-black hair and let out a tired sigh before answering, "He decided to take a trip; he'll be home before the end of the week though." Even though her son hadn't returned that morning, like he was supposed to, she still had hope that he would be home soon.

Karma was now only inches away from the woman and found he didn't even have to look up to be eye-to-eye with Nagisa's mother; now he knew where Nagisa got his height. His words came out calmer than before, yet they were still filled to the brim with hostility, "I know Nagisa did not randomly take a trip. And, you know what? I also know you know where he is right now. I hate you because I know what you do to Nagisa; the only reason you haven't gotten reported is because Nagisa loves you. Why he's willing to sacrifice himself for a bitch like you I'll probably never know. Unlike him, I've not seen any part of you that makes me think you're a good person, so what's stopping me from reporting you… _Now, where is he_?!"

The mother's cool appearance crumbled as soon as Karma said this; she didn't know why the words her son's friend said affected her, but she knew she didn't like be talked down to by a spiteful teenager, whom didn't even have enough control to keep his anger hidden. She bit her bottom lip as she contemplated what to say. She really didn't know what to say. She didn't have any clue where her son was and wasn't even _truly_ confident he would return soon. The woman grew somewhat sad when she thought about the face Nagisa had showed her the previous night; she quickly pushed the feeling down, though. The young blunette had to learn how to be strong, and, lately, he'd been noticeably different.

"I'm not quite sure where he is…he was really upset last night." She said the last part more to herself than the intruding redhead but the teen still picked up the statement.

"What do you mean 'last night'- _Wait, what did you do to him?_ " When he'd left his friend the blunette was practically glowing. What had happened between him leaving Nagisa and his friend leaving home?

The woman stepped away from the infuriated boy before speaking, "Nothing, really. Nagisa returned late and when I told him to keep his behavior in check he started crying." She looked to side and tsked as she thought back to her daught- _son's_ insolent behavior. He was such an underachiever sometimes.

The red-haired teen glowered at her, for he knew she wasn't telling the whole truth. Then he had an epiphany. Karma stood rigidly still as he fully grasped her answer. While trying to cheer up his friend he'd somehow caused this to happen. If he hadn't kept Nagisa out past his curfew, this could have all been avoided. His shock quickly turned to anger as he pushed past the woman who'd pissed him off so much in a conversation that had only lasted a few minutes.

The woman was about to let the red-haired adolescent leave when she felt she needed to tell him something while she still had the chance, since she had a feeling he wouldn't be coming to talk to her anytime soon. She reached and grabbed ahold of the teenager's jacket sleeve. He quickly yanked his arm away yet still acknowledged her when he stopped.

She looked down before speaking, in as close to a pleading voice as she could get, "You're his friend, right? Please, bring him back home to me...and please don't take him away from me." Karma only glared at her before proceeding to the front door. As soon as the door was closed the woman let out a frustrated sigh and pulled a slick black phone out of the pocket of her slacks. She checked her messages and missed calls and was even more frustrated when she saw that her missing son hadn't even attempted to contact her.

Outside, the pissed off teen shoved his hand into the pocket of his pants and pulled out his phone. He looked at his messages and wasn't surprised to see that his messages hadn't even been viewed. Nagisa had probably turned off his phone. Yet, he still found himself texting his friend again.

 **R u ok?**

 **Where r u?**

As he jogged down the street, not fully sure where he was going, his messages grew more desperate.

 **Please tell me where u r**

 **Please answer!**

Finally, as he came to a stop at the train station he sent the message he hadn't wanted to send because he was too busy trying to persuade himself that it wasn't true.

 **Sorry…this is my fault.**

He pocketed the phone as he found himself eyeing a booth, contemplating whether it made sense to buy a ticket when he didn't even know where he was headed…and, like the teenage boy that had been standing there hours before, he found it made perfect sense.

* * *

Nagisa found himself yawning as he sat on the park bench. His hands were as cold as steel kept out in the snow overnight since he didn't have a coffee to warm them anymore. His breath came out in cloudy puffs. It was much colder in this part of the city. _For more than one reason_. He lightly slapped his cheeks to ward off thoughts of Karma.

Instead, he let his mind wander to what had happened many hours earlier.

 _He looked up when he felt the train coming to a stop. He should probably get off before he ends up in the countryside. Coincidently, as he stood and gathered his stuff he found that Chi was doing the same. She smiled at him enthusiastically, "I guess we have the same stop!"_

 _Nagisa nodded and offered a small smile before lifting his duffel bag onto his shoulder. The small teen got off the train first and was about to wander off when Chi appeared beside him again. She held out her phone and smiled brightly before speaking, "Swap numbers with me?"_

 _He peered at her curiously before pulling out his phone and exchanging numbers with her. She smiled afterwards, proceeded down the opposite side of the platform, and from there turned and smiled at the blunette. Her words came out loud and bright, "I hope to hear from you Nagisa! Hopefully we can become good friends!"_

 _It was pitch black outside and this seemingly random girl, whom he'd only met about three hours earlier, was telling him that she wished to become friends with him. Life without his mom breathing down his neck certainly was interesting (When discarding Korosensei, of course…that guy definitely was interesting)._

Since then, Nagisa had been wandering around the area near the station, trying his best to keep himself awake since he wasn't sure what would happen if he ended up falling asleep in a place he wasn't familiar with. Now, though, he was sitting on a park bench and was looking at the small children run and chase each other. He was getting bored so he pulled out his phone, which had been turned off since he'd traded numbers with Chi.

The first thing he noticed is that he had a LOT of messages. He assumed that it was his mother trying to contact him since he hadn't returned home earlier that day. He was slightly disappointed when he found that there were no messages under her name. The blunette was then surprised when he found that all of the messages were from his best friend. He scrolled through them and laughed sheepishly to himself when Karma asked him where he was several times. He probably should have told his friend where he went, but his mind had been other places throughout the day. He stopped laughing, however, when he saw the latest message.

 **Sorry…this is my fault.**

He immediately stopped looking at the messages and called his friend.

 **A/N: Sorry for not updating for a month, but I've been going through a whole bunch of school crap and have been lazy as well as thinking about where I'm going with this story...you don't know how much pacing and mumbling to myself it took to get this chapter out. So now I actually know what's going to happen by the end of the story. As always, reviews are welcomed! I actually read them!**

 **I'll work harder,**

 **Palpex**


	6. Hope

**Chapter 6: Hope**

Karma had been on the train for two hours when he felt the familiar buzz of his phone vibrating. He assumed it was his father asking where he was and was about to dismiss the call when he saw the caller ID. He quickly swiped to answer.

"Nagisa?" He said, not totally sure that it was Nagisa calling even after seeing his name appear on his cellphone.

"Um, yeah, it's me." He could hear a cough as Nagisa seemed to clear his throat. Karma felt his heart leap when he heard the familiar voice of his best friend.

"Oh, so, where are you?" He despised himself for how awkward he must have sounded to Nagisa.

There was silence on the other end, and the redhead immediately regretted asking the question. If Nagisa really wanted to answer that question he would've answered the many messages Karma had sent him. Due to this type of thinking, Karma was surprised when he actually got an answer.

"Um, I think it's somewhere in the Bokan prefecture, but I'm not quite sure…I kinda fell asleep on the way here." He could already see Nagisa nervously scratching his cheek.

"Okay, stay there," He was about look up the place when Nagisa spoke again.

"…Karma, that's not why I called. I just wanted to let you know that it's not your fault that I ran away. I had a choice in whether to go with you or to go home, and I chose to go with the better option." Karma stopped typing and spoke sternly into his phone.

"Nagisa, I barely gave you a choice in the matter…I selfishly took you with me without even thinking of the repercussions on your end" He heard a sigh on the other end.

The blunette's voice came out firm, "Karma, would you have taken me to that restaurant if I told you no and refused to cross the street, if I showed you I truly didn't want to go with you?"

Karma answered quickly, with the only answer that was acceptable in modern society, "No, that would make a Nagisa-stealer."

Nagisa chuckled lightly, a sound that quickly relaxed Karma, at the redhead's choice of wording before elaborating on his answer, "I'm sure the term is 'kidnapper', but, that put aside, you wouldn't have taken me to the restaurant if I didn't want go. If I didn't want to go with you I would have told you that and that would have been it. Going with you was my own decision."

Karma still insisted that it was his fault, "Still, if I hadn't kept you out so late, you wouldn't be in this situation."

Instead of paying Karma's insistences any heed Nagisa asked another question, "If a person is inaugurated and only minutes after being inaugurated his country is attacked, is it morally the new president's fault?"

Karma, though surprised by the sudden change of subject, doesn't have to think much about the question before answering, "Not morally, no, it's not his fault."

Nagisa hummed with approval before speaking, "Yes, it isn't his fault. He didn't have any control of the situation, yet he will still blame himself for the problem, won't he?"

Karma nodded, before realizing that Nagisa couldn't see him, "Yeah, probably, but isn't that stupid? It wasn't even his fault."

Karma heard a not-very-well-hidden laugh on the other line and was the one to ask the question this time, "What's so funny?"

Nagisa quickly calmed down and answered the question, "Right now, you are that president. You somehow find a way to blame yourself for the inevitable. What I mean by this is that I leaving my mother was going to happen even if you didn't keep me out late. Sure, it probably wouldn't have happened last night if you hadn't kept me out, but it still would've happened sooner or later. Don't try denying it, because you and I both know it: This isn't your fault."

Karma was silent, in a corner of his heart he still felt guilty but he decided to push down the feeling as to not upset Nagisa. Instead he decided to go back to the beginning of the conversation, "What part of Bokan do you think you're in?"

Nagisa took this inquiry as him giving up. Karma heard some shuffling on the other end and some muffled speaking before he heard Nagisa again, "According to some lady, I'm in the northern part of Bokan, near what I think is a kindergarten."

Karma inserted the information into his phone and when the results came up he questioned Nagisa, "Is the kindergarten "Aikawa Daycare Center'?"

More shuffling, and then a confirmation from Nagisa. Fortunately, he was headed in the direction of northern Bokan, so he wouldn't be stuck getting on another train, and, even better, he was only about thirty minutes away.

"Stay put, Nagisa. I should be there in about half an hour." He said calmly.

Nagisa knew that if he told Karma his location it was very likely that the impulsive redhead would come and meet him, and he knew that no amount of protest would get Karma to change his mind, but he was still curious about something, "Karma, how are you going to get here so fast? It took me about three hours to get here."

Silence on Karma's end. Nagisa repeated the question, "How are you-"

"I've been on the train for two hours, Nagisa." Karma cut him off, and was quite satisfied when he heard Nagisa gasp on the other end.

The flustered blunette failed as he tried to find a way to express gratitude and astonishment, while reprimanding Karma for wasting so much time on him, in a single sentence. His incoherent speech was music to Karma's ears. He could already see Nagisa blushing.

Soon, their conversation drifted towards what normal middle schoolers should spend time talking about, for instance, killing their teacher. As they talked Karma looked outside his window to see that it was already getting dark outside, so it was probably getting colder. Based on Nagisa's sparse-except the dresses, of course-closet Karma could deduct that Nagisa was smart enough to take his coat with him so he didn't feel the need to question the blunette.

After a while of conversation the train came to a stop and Karma got off. It was after a few minutes of wandering and Nagisa's not-really-helpful directing that Karma came across the kindergarten, and the park that was connected to it, where the blunette was waiting, leaning against the fence surrounding the park. Sure enough, the blunette was wearing his green coat.

Nagisa was turned away from the redhead so Karma decided to take advantage of the situation. He turned off his phone and was about to grab both of the smaller boy's shoulders from behind to frighten him, when Nagisa turned around and caught him.

By the way Karma's arms are reaching towards him in a somewhat menacing way, it's pretty easy for Nagisa to tell what the red-haired boy was about to do, "Karma, were you trying to scare me?"

Karma shrugs and instead busies himself taking in Nagisa's appearance. The blunette's nose and cheeks are a rosy red and his lips are dry and chapped. He also notes the bags under the petite boy's eyes and the barely noticeable way he sways on his feet, both signs that he didn't sleep the night before. He decides not to voice his concerns right at the moment.

On Nagisa's face is a genuine smile as his tired eyes look over Karma. It has only been a day since he has last seen him but the blunette is in real need of a friend at the moment so time is irrelevant.

The two teens continue to stare at each other, until Karma clears his throat and speaks, once again he finds his voice coming out awkward, "Nagisa, how are you?"

Nagisa looks down and coughs a bit before answering, "I'm good, Karma." Karma glances at his friend again, anybody would be able to tell that the blue-haired boy isn't fine.

"Nagisa, are you really fine?" Karma asks, his voice coming out normal this time.

Nagisa doesn't budge and continues to look at the ground, finding his sneakers strangely hypnotic. Karma decides it is best he doesn't insist on an answer, since it is obvious Nagisa isn't going to respond. Karma watches as Nagisa starts shuffling and decides if Nagisa is not going to speak, he would have to.

"So, I guess you know why I'm here." He lifts his arm and scratches the back of his head nervously as Nagisa lifts his eyes off the dirt and towards him. He chuckles to himself, a sound that doesn't give Karma the happiness it usually does, and speaks quietly, "I can guess, and, just to warn you, I'm not going back to my mother. You of all people should know that." His voice drips with anger, his eyes scowl at the ground, and his hands tighten into fists when he says "mother". Karma is taken aback by the tone of voice, though it was perfectly understandable that he would feel that way towards his ass of a mother, but it is still surprising to hear that tone from Nagisa.

He quickly recomposes himself before speaking, "Nagisa, I'm not here to drag you back to your mother, I just want to talk to you face-to-face."

Nagisa's demeanor quickly reverts back to the mellow boy Karma is used to seeing. The boy's cerulean pigtails bounce slightly as he smiles and nods his head. The blunette gestures to a park bench near the two of them.

Once seated, Nagisa, albeit nervous, questions the taller boy. "What'd you want to talk about?" He says, despite having a feeling he already knows what Karma wants to chat about.

Karma wastes no time and dives into the question he knows Nagisa knows he's going to ask. "Nagisa, why'd you leave?" He pauses before elaborating when Nagisa looks at him like he's crazy, "I mean, I know why you would go, but why'd you leave yesterday?"

Nagisa glanced at his hands, which he was now weaving together nervously while searching for the right words to say. Karma waited patiently.

Nagisa sighs before speaking again, "Karma, after you left, me and my mother got into a fight. And-" Karma quickly cuts him off and speaks, "Did she hit you?"

Nagisa looks down and his voice comes out low and dejected, "No…but sometimes words hurt more." The blunette's eyes grow slightly moist when he thinks back to what had happened the night before. He quickly closes them and presses his palms against the eyelids to make sure he doesn't cry.

Karma isn't fooled and scoots closer to the wet-eyed blunette. Nagisa doesn't scoot away, but he doesn't look up either. Karma is about to lean back into the bench when Nagisa suddenly looks up, a sad smile adorning his face. His voice comes out weak, "Anyways, I guess I was done with it. All of her craziness; I was tired of it."

They sit in silence for a while before Karma speaks again, "Nagisa, your mother's a jerk." The blunette chuckles bitterly at this, and then he finds his dark chuckle turning into a light one, and soon he's struggling with keeping himself on the bench as his laugh echoes throughout the now empty park. The blunette excitedly repeats what Karma said in between giggles. Karma stares in awe as his friend laughs this much at something he didn't even intend to be funny. His awe soon turns to worry as Nagisa's laughs turn into sobs. Karma wraps an arm around the boy's shaking shoulders and gives them a tight squeeze. That's all he can do as Nagisa's sobs turn into whimpers.

Now that the blunette is calmed down his voice comes out raspy, "My mother really is a jerk…she doesn't even love me." Karma listens to this and honestly he can't fully believe what Nagisa says. He voices his opinion, "Nagisa, I'm not sure she doesn't love you. When I saw her earlier today she looked like she was doubting herself…and a little desperate."

Nagisa's head shoots up and he stares at the redhead. "Doubting" and "desperate" were the last words he would use when describing his mother. _Is she really that affected by my disappearance?_ Nagisa quickly pushes the thought away; there was no way she cared that much, but that doesn't mean Nagisa isn't curious. "What'd she say, Karma?"

Karma sighs, he doesn't want to get Nagisa's hopes too high, but he speaks anyway, "She just said she wants you back." Nagisa's shock shows on his face as he processes Karma's answer. _Does she love me?_ As Nagisa thinks this he can't find an answer, even after hearing Karma. Then, it dawns on him. If he wants to know if his mother loves him he should just go to the source.

Ever since he grew into a middle school student, when he started doubting his mother's fidelity, he'd never asked the question. Now, he is a third-year and has been through many more things; he is more grown that he's ever been. He now has the rights and the guts to straightforwardly ask his mother the question that has been on his mind more than it should be: **Do you love me?**

Nagisa reaches up with his cold hand and tugs at Karma's sleeve. Karma loosens his grip on him. Nagisa lets out a shuddering breath before he looks up into amber eyes and speaks, "Karma, can you take me home?"

Karma looks at his friend, scrutinizing the hopeful look in his eyes, before speaking, "Nagisa, I don't want to get your hopes up. There's a chance she might just continue to treat you the way she does if we don't anything about it."

Nagisa continues to look at him, his eyes less hopeful than before, but still pleading. Karma decides it's probably best Nagisa goes back to his home, for now anyway.

"Fine. I'm pretty sure a train should be heading towards Kunugigaoka later." He says, thinking back to the schedule he'd gotten a glimpse of while leaving the train station. Nagisa leans down and reaches under the bench. He comes up with a navy blue duffel bag Karma hadn't noticed earlier.

Karma offers to carry to the bag but Nagisa politely declines. They leave the park. Together, the two teens walk down the street in silence, both of them not knowing of the storm that was brewing without them.

* * *

The black-haired woman sighed as she looked down at her laptop. She let her tired eyes drift to the corner of the screen, and immediately regretted it when she caught sight of the time. _9:28pm_

It was now official; her son has been missing for 24 hours. If she were any other parent she would immediately call the police, since they would now actually be able to do something about the missing child. Unfortunately, she wasn't any other parent. She knew why her child was gone and she knew that the police wouldn't approve if they found out why.

She couldn't call the police, no way in hell would she call the police. If she did, they would surely take her Nagisa away. The woman let her mind wander…and found herself pondering what life would be like without her son. She couldn't imagine herself walking into the kitchen at night and not seeing him doing his homework. She knew he tried hard, probably harder than most students, but no matter what happened-or how hard he tried-he always ended up falling short in her eyes... she had always wanted a daughter. Maybe if he dressed up more often, maybe if he got better marks, maybe… Not once during her thinking did she even dare to consider that the problem wasn't Nagisa.

Still, she knew that she wouldn't be able to live without having the young blunette by her side. Being without her child was a mother's worst nightmare. Did Nagisa hate her? To leave her alone without so much as a message, he must have. He had no right to leave her. He was her property. Then again, he'd been a screw up from birth [This was only to be expected]. She'd tried so hard for a girl, and when the doctor told her she'd have a son…well, that was only the beginning of the disappointment. Soon, her son would become reluctant when it came to wearing the clothes she worked so hard to buy for him. Soon, her son's grades would slip and he would fall into the unescapable pit referred to as E-class. Yes, the disappointment will only continue. What would he do next? What creative way would he find to disappoint her? What was his worth? Why did she work so hard for him?

She tugged on her hair as she tried to find answer to the question. Why was she upset that the boy was missing? Without him she could easily adopt a girl who would be extremely willing to try on the clothes she brought home. Why did she care? _Why did she care?_ She repeated the question in her head, racking her brain for an answer. When she couldn't find one she found her hand migrating towards her phone.

She dialed a number, not Nagisa's, and definitely not the police's.

A clear, but slightly tired voice answered, "Yes?" Hiromi let out a sigh of relief when she heard the voice on the other end. Despite not actually liking the person on the other end, she was still relieved he picked up.

"It's me." She said, knowing that he would know who it was after hearing her voice.

"Hiromi? Why are you calling? I'm not supposed to see Nagisa until later this month." The man was more attentive upon hearing his ex-wife.

The woman let out another sigh, this one more of frustration than relief, before speaking, "Yeah, it's about Nagisa. I'm thinking of handing him over to you for a while."

* * *

 **A/N: I updated sooner than I thought I would. Anyway, Nagisa's mother is an ass and this story is about to take a turn. Focusing a little less on Ass-Mom. Originally, I was going to end the fanfic here and make another one called "Warm Haze 2" or somethin' like that. But, that's a chore so why not continue this story?**

 **[Hopefully] See you later,**

 **Palpex**


	7. Trade

**Chapter 7: Trade**

The train is almost empty, two of the exceptions being the boys seated near the back. The taller red-haired teen reads while the blue-haired adolescent leans against him, fast asleep. They had been on the train for only a few minutes when the blunette dozed off. His friend, the redhead, doesn't dare to wake him up because he knows the blunette needs his sleep at this point.

Karma turns the page slowly, trying his best not to jostle the boy next to him. Nagisa stirs in his sleep despite his efforts. Karma continues to read the book he's borrowed from Nagisa's duffel bag. Despite being on page seventy-two already, if someone were to ask him what the book's about he wouldn't be able to answer them as his thoughts are too distracting.

As he sits next to his sleeping friend Karma finds his brain running a mile a minute. He isn't sure what will happen once Nagisa gets home. He doesn't know what Nagisa's mother will do and he can't be sure of how Nagisa will react. _There are two probable outcomes_ , he decides. First, Nagisa's mother could change her attitude and take Nagisa back with open arms. Second, her attitude could remain the same and Nagisa would be back at square one. He hopes for the first one but he knew there was a higher chance of the second choice becoming reality.

Nagisa shifts next to him and lets out a small sigh in his sleep. The redhead wonders what the blunette dreams about but decides not to dwell on it. The train stops and the small number of people on the train dwindle to only the two boys. Karma glances out the window, only to be met with the pitch blackness of night. He and Nagisa's stop is the next one. There are only a few minutes in between stops so Karma decides to shake his sleeping friend awake.

"Ngh," Nagisa mumbles sleepily as he slowly wakes up. Karma notes that he still has dark circles under both of his eyes even after sleeping for two hours. He feels slightly bad for waking up the small blunette but knows no good would come from letting the other teen sleep through their stop.

Nagisa squints his eyes as they try to adjust to the burning light of the train. He slowly leans away from the taller teen and sits up straight as he tries to comprehend what he's doing and where he is. It takes him a few seconds to remember both of the facts and when he does the blunette looks up at Karma, his eyes now adjusted to the florescent lights of the train.

"Are we almost there?" Nagisa questions, now less sleepy than he was a few seconds ago.

"It should be next stop." Karma answers as he deliberately shuts the book and leans over Nagisa to place it in the duffel bag. Nagisa looks nervously at his feet, obviously trying to ignore the fact that he is so close to the answers he wants. The blue-haired boy continues to do this until the train comes to a stop again. Karma smiles reassuringly but it's obvious that he, himself, is not even sure when the smile doesn't reach his eyes.

Nagisa leans over and picks up the duffel bag before standing up and making his way down the length of the train with Karma by his side. The two adolescents step off the train and quickly make their way to a nearby street to start their walk to Nagisa's house.

Now that they're on the street Nagisa turns towards Karma, a slightly nervous smile on his face. He speaks quietly, "You know, Karma, you could go home. You've already traveled about three hours to get me, I wouldn't want to waste anymore of your time."

Karma wraps his arm around the blunette's shoulders before looking at the smaller adolescent and speaking, "Nagisa, if I defined the time I spent with you as time wasted then I wouldn't be spending anytime with you…" He pauses and smirks at Nagisa. "And, anyway, it's past midnight and, no offense, but you look like prime kidnapping material." Karma doesn't say it but he's more worried about leaving Nagisa, who doesn't look so confident at the moment, with that bitch of a mother rather than letting him walk home alone.

Nagisa blushes slightly at the first part of the comment and lets out a sigh when he hears the rest of what Karma says. With a less nervous smile decorating his face, Nagisa responds to Karma, "Then I guess we should head to my house."

The two boys talk about senseless things as they walk down the road together, both of them trying to keep the mood light while they still could. Karma tries his best to rehash to Nagisa what Korosensei had taught in class the day before, even though he didn't even pay attention during most of the lesson. It is what feels like only a few minutes later that Nagisa's house comes into view and the two boy's conversation dies down.

It doesn't take much longer for the two boys to reach the small wall surrounding the house. When they do Nagisa gestures for Karma to stay by the wall as he walks up to the door and knocks. Karma continues to stay on the other side of the wall, having decided that Nagisa needs privacy.

The door slowly opens and the black-haired lady appears, still wearing work clothes despite the time of night. She looks genuinely surprised to see her son. A smile erupts on her face and she quickly embraces the blunette. Though somewhat shocked, Nagisa lets himself get hugged and even holds on to his mother's arms as she holds him close. As he's being hugged the blunette ponders about the last time his mother had hugged him without him feeling like he was a seal being circled by a shark. Nagisa decides he enjoys the hug and as the shock slowly washes away he lets himself smile.

His serene expression quickly turns to one of confusion as he sees behind his mother and into the house. There, on the floor, is a small travel bag with his name on it. He slowly eases out of his mother's grip and points past her and to the bag. "What is that?" He inquires.

The woman's smile doesn't falter in the slightest bit as she processes the question. She rests her hand on Nagisa's shoulder and kneels down a bit to be eye-level with him. Her voice comes out disturbingly cheerful considering the words she says, "Well, Nagisa, I actually called your father and he's going to be here later to pick you up and bring you back with him!"

Karma clenches his fist as he listens from the other side of the wall. He hears Nagisa's voice come out calm, "How long am I going to be with him?"

The mother's smile grows even wider as she answers the question, "Your father said you could stay until the end of March! That way you'll be able to go to a school your father enrolls you in and get away from that dreaded E-class!" Nagisa isn't nearly excited as his mother. He looks down as he reaches up and brushes away the hand on his shoulder. Now he knows what the hug was for; it wasn't a show of love, it was a way to disarm him.

His voice comes out quiet and calculated as well-hidden anger lurks in his words, "Mother, what if I said I wanted to stay here? What if I said I wanted to continue learning in E-class? Would you still send me to stay with my father?" Ms. Shiota's expression turns cold as she listens to Nagisa's questions.

Her tone turns cold as she speaks, "You are going to stay with your father, Nagisa. You can't stay here." She reaches over to pat him on the head but he moves out of her reach. Nagisa's suspicions are quickly confirmed when she speaks. She wasn't worried about him, she was only worried about losing her puppet; and now that her puppet is falling off its strings…there's no need for it.

Nagisa looks up at her, his eyes hard he speaks, "So you're getting rid of me because you've found you don't like me as much as you used to." She winces slightly at his choice of words and is about to speak when she hears a somewhat familiar voice coming from her yard.

"Only a few people can be real, genuine assholes." The redhead Ms. Shiota saw earlier stands in the yard. Amber eyes that hold nothing but anger land on her. The red-haired boy approaches, his cold stare on the black-haired woman the whole time. He walks past Nagisa, who's staring at his shoes again, and stops next to the woman.

He leans over to her ear and whispers coldly, "I have a something I would like to talk to you about," He glances over at Nagisa. "Inside." She gives him a cold glare, one that tops his by a million, but he's still looking at Nagisa. He turns back towards her and gestures towards the door. Ms. Shiota still stands in the way of the door, debating whether she really wants to let this boy in her house or not. Curious about what he has to say, she steps inside and waits for him to into as well.

To her surprise, the redhead turns around and walks over to Nagisa. He leans over Nagisa and whispers in his ear, "I _will_ help you, Nagisa." He says it quietly enough that Ms. Shiota can't make out a thing he says. Nagisa looks up with a shocked expression but before the blunette has a chance to say anything Karma walks through the door and shuts it behind him, leaving Nagisa in the dark.

As soon as the door shuts the black-haired woman turns towards the teen. Her voice comes out snappy when she speaks, "What did you say to him?" Instead of answering the question Karma starts studying the pictures of Nagisa on the wall. After a few seconds of observing them he turns back to Ms. Shiota.

He scrutinizes her for a few seconds before speaking, "You don't care about where he goes as long as he's not your problem, right?" Ms. Shiota doesn't know how to answer the question so she angrily shouts at him, "What do you want to talk about!?"

Karma glares at her irately before elaborating on his question, "What I mean is does he have to stay with his father? Can't he stay somewhere where he can still go to Kunugigaoka?"

Ms. Shiota narrows her eyes before speaking deliberately, "The closest family other than me is his father…How is this relevant to what you want?"

Karma sighs before voicing his thoughts, "Can he stay with my family? That way you'll be rid of him and he'll get to stay somewhere where he can finish his third year at Kunugigaoka."

The black-haired woman grows furious and lets out a growl as she speaks, "Why would I let Nagisa stay with you!? I don't even know your name!"

Karma smirks at her anger before introducing himself, "My name is Karma Akabane." He extends his hand for her to shake but she only looks dumbfounded.

She stutters slightly as she speaks, "Y-You mean as in the son of Moritaki Akabane?" Karma's smirk grows wider as she reaches over to shake his hand. He knows that he has her under his thumb now that she knows he's the son of the very successful business man that controls a large chunk of the company she works at-a man that could easily ruin her life.

He looks to the side and lets out a small whistle before saying offhandedly, "You know, my father's been talking of promotions lately...but he's also been talking about pink slips." Her eyes grow wide and Karma has to try hard to stop himself from laughing out loud. He has a feeling it's only going to be a few moments before she takes the bait. She wouldn't be able to resist all the things being offered as a trade.

He quickly gets the answer he wants when she leans against the wall and gestures to the small bag on the floor. Karma has the feeling she doesn't flat out say "You can take my son" because she wants to ease the guilt. Although it makes persuading her easy, it still disgusts Karma that she would trade her son for the possibility of a promotion.

The redhead looks at the black-haired woman for confirmation before leaning over and picking up the bag. He walks past her and slams the door as he leaves the house.

When he steps outside Nagisa's sitting on the walkway, a thoughtful look on his face as he looks up at the crescent moon. Karma approaches the sitting blunette and stands beside him. When Nagisa notices the taller teen he slowly stands up and looks into Karma's eyes with a hopeful expression. Karma smiles teasingly and wraps his arm around the blunette's shoulders. His voice comes out casual and slightly haughty, "Hey, Nagisa, you up for a sleepover?"

 **A/N:** _ **This**_ **is where I was going to end part 1. Anyway, this chapter should've been out on Tuesday but I've been having internet problems. Now I'm going to start working more on the romance part of this story, but the winner of the Worst Anime Mother Award will still be around.**

 **Tell me your thoughts,**

 **Palpex**


	8. Stupid Assassination Kit

**Chapter 8: Stupid Assassination Kit**

At around six in the morning, a yellow taxi pulls up in front of a small house, inside a blue-haired man opens his wallet to take out his dues for the ride. He quickly pays the cab driver and exits the banana-colored vehicle. The man strolls up the walk leading to the small house. When he comes to the door, he finds himself feeling nervous and stalls when he knows he should be knocking.

Something very important is happening today, he knows. Today he's supposed to retrieve his son from a difficult woman who finally realized she shouldn't be the one to raise the boy. He raises his arm and is about to knock when the door suddenly opens. A woman he knows all too well wears a suit and has her hair brushed to the side in her usual style. It takes him a few seconds to recognize that she hasn't noticed him, as she's looking down, into her bag. After pulling out a black cellphone, she looks up.

Startled, she yells and quickly jumps away from him, in the process dropping her cellphone. As it lands at his feet, the middle-aged blunette leans over and retrieves it from the ground. He stands back up and reaches over to hand it to his former wife.

She takes it and seems to glare at him before placing it back in her purse. She sighs and her voice comes out annoyed and impatient, "What are you doing here, _Kaiyo_?"

She says his name as if it is filthy bacteria, a disgusting thing that must be avoided. He's used to this treatment but he's still surprised at her question. Kaiyo glances at her before speaking. His voice comes out calm but not exactly confident, a trait he shares with his son, "I'm here to pick up Nagisa."

Her eyes widen for a fraction of a second as she processes what he says. She quickly returns to her normal self and her voice comes out hard and cold, "No, you're not. Nagisa decided that he wanted to stay here and finish up school rather than go you." She knew it wasn't a lie as she said it because she remembered that when given the choice between his father and Kunugigaoka, Nagisa had chosen the latter. Ms. Shiota shoves past him and attempts to continue down the walk.

He reaches over and grabs her arm on impulse, though quickly regrets it when she sends another glare towards him. She stops and stares at him, her glare still steady as she speaks, "What else do you want?"

The answer surprised Kaiyo but he doesn't blame his son, he is pretty sure that the woman in front of him is the one pulling the strings anyway. He sighs as he voices his thoughts, "Can I see him?" Ms. Shiota freezes at the question but quickly composes herself.

"He went to a friend's house last night…for a sleepover." Technically she isn't lying, although she is pretty sure the "sleepover" her son is at is going to last longer than what's considered normal. This answer is even more surprising than the last one, his former wife was definitely not the type to let Nagisa go to a sleepover. He was getting slightly suspicious.

The man nods at her answer and everything seems to be going to be fine for her until he speaks again, "Well, can I wait for him here? Since I traveled all the way here I would like to at least hang out with him once." It is true, he really wants to see his son…and he wishes to discuss with the boy what happened that caused him to be called over to pick him up. Plus, he hasn't really had time to see his son in the past month or so since both of them have been busy. He would never, _ever_ travel for three hours just to see his ex-wife.

Ms. Shiota shrugs, he can wait all day for all she cares, but she has stuff to do. "I don't know when he'll be back…but I have to go to work." Again, all of it was true. She was somewhat proud that she had gone a whole conversation without telling a single lie.

She continues down the walk and this time he doesn't attempt to stop her. At the open gate she turns toward him and gestures to the ajar door to the house. "You can wait in there…but, don't be upset if he doesn't show up, he's got stuff to do." He is slightly taken aback by her invitation to go inside, especially since it would mean he would be alone in her house. What he doesn't know is that she's in a good mood, for she knows she'll be getting a promotion soon.

The black-haired woman walks off and doesn't even bother looking back to acknowledge whether or not he takes her up on the offer.

* * *

Across town, a redhead yawns and stretches as he tries to wake himself up. Sunlight streams in through his white curtains, bathing every corner of his room in horrid morning sunshine. He's never been a morning person.

Karma debates going back to sleep, but decides against it when he remembers he has a guest to attend to. Leaning over the edge of his bed, he glances at the floor and is surprised to see the blunette that fell asleep there last night is gone. In fact, there's no sign of the blunette ever being there except for the pile of neatly folded blankets in the corner.

Now sitting up in his bed, the redhead glances over at his alarm clock to find that it's six forty-nine; he outwardly groans. Now worried about where the blunette went, Karma wraps himself with his comforter as he leaves the room. The first thing he notices when he steps out his room is the smell. An aroma hinting at eggs and bacon wafts through the hall, leaving Karma curious as he heads towards the kitchen.

* * *

Nagisa hums to himself as the sizzling of bacon echoes throughout the kitchen, a subtle reminder of where he is. His mother never let bacon in the house, always insisting that it was bad for a young lady's figure. The only reason he knows how to cook the fatty meat is the cooking class he's been forced to take twice a week, since age twelve. It's a weird feeling to know that he won't have to take that class anymore.

As he stares down at the hissing meat, he lets his mind wander to what happened last night.

 _The blunette yawns as he walks down the street, barely registering where he's going as he tries to force his brain to stay awake. Only now does he realize that he's slept for about two hours over the past two days. Back at his house, Karma had mentioned a sleepover and had left little room for complaint when the blunette was pulled past the small wall surrounding his house. Now, he continues to walk beside Karma as they make their way towards the taller male's house._

 _Karma stays silent as they walk, mulling over how to present the news to Nagisa. It's about half an hour of silence later that they come to the slightly familiar house that Karma resides in. After taking a key out of his pocket, Karma goes ahead and opens the door._

 _Nagisa follows as Karma guides him down the same hall he'd been taken through the night of the party. This time, though, they pass the kitchen and continue pass two more doors before stopping at an already-opened one._

 _Karma waits for Nagisa to enter before entering himself. The androgynous teen can feel himself getting sleepier as another yawn racks his body. Karma glances over at the TV mounted on his wall before glancing back at Nagisa. "I would put on a movie, but you'd probably fall asleep before the opening sequence starts." He says jokingly as he walks to his closet to pull out a few blankets. Spreading them out on the floor, he looks up at Nagisa, who's looking like he's having problems standing at this point. Now back up, Karma gestures to the now blanket-covered floor. "You should go to sleep and revive the true meaning of 'sleepover'." Nagisa lets a small laugh escape his lips as he lowers himself to the floor to get settled in the makeshift bed._

 _The redhead walks back to the door to turn off the light before stepping over Nagisa to get to his own bed. Karma lets himself rest now that he's sure that the blunette is doing the same. He's quite surprised when he hears Nagisa's small voice question, "This isn't a normal sleepover, is it, Karma?"_

 _Karma nods but voices his answer when he remembers that Nagisa can't see him in the dark. "I'm going to be here longer, aren't I?" Nagisa continues after acknowledging Karma's response._

" _Yeah." Karma answers sleepily. He's slightly surprised when Nagisa doesn't ask anything else and is partly amused when he hears the blunette's breaths even out as he slips into a comfortable sleep._

Nagisa lifts the bacon out of the pan and places two pieces on each of the two plates he had set on the table. He's about to grab the fried eggs, the ones he'd cooked earlier, and set them on the table when he notices that the kitchen now has two people in it. "Good morning, Karma." He says cheerfully as he smiles at the tired looking redhead. Karma nods at him and, after noticing the food on the table, he questions the blunette. "How long have you been up?"

Nagisa glances at the clock mounted on the wall and answers. "About half an hour." He chuckles and glances at Karma, who looks sleepy in his comforter. The smaller teen moves toward the counter and retrieves the eggs and two pieces of toast. After setting the food on their proper plates, he turns to Karma and gestures to the table, a silent invitation.

"Nice blanket, Karma." Nagisa attempts to hide a giggle once he takes in the now-sitting redhead's appearance.

"It's Saturday and not even seven o' clock. I honestly don't understand how you're awake when you've had even less sleep than me the past few days." Karma responds as he smiles at the blue-eyed boy. He takes a bite of his egg and his eyes widen in surprise at the flavor. "This is pretty good."

Nagisa barely acknowledges the compliment as something dawns on him, something he had not taken note of earlier, when he was looking through his duffel bag for an outfit. He nervously squeezes his hands in his lap as he looks up at the eating redhead. His voice comes out timid as he questions the other adolescent. "Um, Karma, I left some stuff at home, stuff I should probably pick up today."

The addressed teen glances up at the blue-haired boy and questions curiously, "What's so important that it needs to be picked up today?"

Nagisa openly fidgets in his seat and bites his lip a bit before answering Karma's question bluntly. "An assassination kit with the Ministry of Defense insignia on it." It was true, in his spur-of-the-moment "trip" away from home he forgot the suitcase filled with pellets, guns, and rubber knives. Any parent would be slightly suspicious if they found that under their child's bed.

Karma can barely hide his laughter when he hears Nagisa's response. "Okay, so you brought a novel with you, but forgot the weapon-filled suitcase."

Nagisa flushes in embarrassment when he realizes his own stupidity and his face gets even redder when he concludes that Karma is joking about it. "Karma, this isn't funny! This is a very serious government matter!"

He's about to go on but Karma raises his hand to silence him. "Yeah, we should probably go and pick it up."

" _We?_ " Nagisa questions.

Karma laughs as he stands up and brings his now-empty plate to the sink. "Nagisa, I've said it before and I'll say it again: You're prime kidnapping material."

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! I had to give Nagisa's dad a name since the author never gave him one; and BTW "Kaiyo" will be gone soon, but his appearance will actually be important to the flow of the story. Sorry that this one's pretty short; just over 2000 words, but this is the only stopping point I could find without continuing into chapter nine. BTW, my updates might get slower because I've started on another AssClass fanfic "Nothing But a Façade" (Please check it out!) Have a good day and please leave me with a few words!**

 **Imagining Karma wrapped in a blanket,**

 **Palpex**


	9. Unexpected Meeting

**Chapter 9: Unexpected Meeting**

Nagisa crouches down and feels under the mat, hoping that his mom left the key where it usually is. Karma stands behind him, now wearing actual clothes instead of a blanket. Eyes on the key now in Nagisa's hand, the redhead speaks. "Are you sure she isn't home?"

The blunette turns toward him and nods before elaborating on his answer. "Yep. She's got work early on Saturday mornings so we should be able to get my stuff without any disruptions." He inserts the key into the lock and turns the knob.

The door opens easily and two teens walk in. Nagisa talks as they continue down the hall. "It's under my bed but, as well as the kit, there's some other stuff I forgot to pack."

The pair are almost to Nagisa's room when the blunette suddenly turns around. "Did you hear that?" He asks, his voice laced with suspicion. Karma didn't notice anything off or hear something but knows not to doubt the blunette's observational skills. The blue-eyed boy turns away from his room and tugs on the redhead's shirt sleeve as he starts to lead him away from the room and towards the kitchen.

Their footprints are barely audible as they make their way down to the other end of the wall. When Nagisa enters-Karma not far behind him-the kitchen, he almost yells. Almost. At the small table in the middle of the kitchen, a blue-haired man is pouring tea for two. The middle-aged man looks surprised when the blunette boy appears at the entrance of the kitchen. He falters slightly as he continues to fix the cup of tea.

When he's done, he stares at the blue-haired teen a little longer and, before long, a large grin breaks out on his face. "Nagisa! It's nice to see you, your mother made it sound like you wouldn't be back for hours." He stands up and gives the boy a somewhat awkward hug before ushering Nagisa to the seat across from him and handing him a cup of tea. The man has yet to notice the other teen standing at the doorway.

Karma continues to study the man from the threshold, his calculating gaze sizing up the older male. It is pretty obvious that the man is related to Nagisa, most likely his father. His only concern is why the man is here. _Hadn't the deal about Nagisa going home with his father been called off?_

While Karma would love to stay and watch Nagisa and his dad converse, he has other things he should be doing. The redhead makes his way back to Nagisa's room and immediately crouches down to reach under the other boy's bed. After feeling around blindly, his hand bumps into the hard casing of the assassination kit had given to them at the beginning of the year.

He quickly pulls it out and places it right outside the window so that they can retrieve it later. If Nagisa's father hadn't showed up they would have absolutely no trouble getting the case but now that he did, Karma needs to make sure that he doesn't see it. Ministry of Defense assassination kits always make parents suspicious.

Once the chore is done, Karma falls onto Nagisa's bed and decides to catch up on his Saturday morning sleep. He would very much like to eavesdrop on Nagisa's conversation, but he has the feeling that Nagisa would rather have privacy when talking with his dad. Also, the bed is comfy and carries the faint smell of his best friend. He buries his head in the blankets and falls asleep.

Down the hall, Nagisa is seated across the table from his father, steam from their tea cups floating up and then disappearing into air. Nagisa listens intently as his father makes small talk, asking about school and how he's doing. The blunette doesn't quite know why his father is here, and, despite having nothing against the man, that's making him uneasy. He can easily tell that his father is avoiding a topic, but isn't sure he knows what the thing is that his father doesn't want to talk about.

Suddenly, the older male comes right out and says it. "Nagisa, your mother called me last and asked me if I wanted to pick you up and take you home with me. Did you know that?"

Nagisa nods. "Yes, she told me."

The man sips his tea as he leans back in his chair and asks the question that's been on his mind all morning long. "Nagisa, why would she suddenly want to be rid of you?" The man has a habit of being blunt-once he finished beating around the bush- when it comes to delicate situations. This habit was a big part of the reason him and Hiromi separated. Whenever she had something to say about Nagisa's gender, or did something stupid or unreasonable, he would flat out tell her she's crazy. Eventually, he got tired of living with a psycho, and she got tired of living with someone so blunt, so they decided that they weren't good for each other and he moved out.

Nagisa looks down at his hands while debating what to say. After a few seconds of thinking, he responds to his father's question, making sure to not give away too much information in his answer. "Well, we had a sort of a…misunderstanding, and I did something that upset her."

As the older blunette stares blankly at him, Nagisa is pretty sure that his answer wasn't detailed enough to satisfy his father. He decides that he might as well admit to what he did.

"We had a disagreement about a few things and I left for a day. My disobedience resulted in her wanting to hand me over to you. Everything's fine now, though…We're not going to be around each other enough anymore to have any disagreements." Kaiyo almost spits out his tea when he hears Nagisa's answer. The last time he had been with both Hiromi and his son at the same time was three months after the divorce, approximately five years ago.

Back then, Nagisa did everything Hiromi asked and never dared to go against her. At age ten, Nagisa would follow his mother around in a dress, always trying his very best to please her. It is now blatantly obvious to Kaiyo that his son has changed. While this change is seen as unpleasant by Hiromi, Kaiyo recognizes this bit of rebellion as an improvement in his son's character…But something doesn't add up.

Although he doesn't like it, his former wife is not the type of person that would decide to send Nagisa away and then decide to keep him just because the boy wants to stay at his current school. The last thing Nagisa said also makes him wonder a bit too. Kaiyo Ashitaka is a pretty smart man and it only takes him a few minutes to come to a conclusion, though he doesn't like the conclusion he comes to.

"Nagisa, where are you staying?" He says. When his son almost spits out his tea, he's disappointed to know that his hypothesis is correct.

"How-" The blue-haired boy begins, but his father quickly raises a hand to silence him.

"Nagisa, please answer the question. I would like to know the person my son is living with." Nagisa bites his lip nervously. If his father finds out that he's staying with a classmate his mother just met two days ago there's a good chance that he won't agree with it. But, he has a feeling that his dad isn't going to immediately decide that he doesn't want him staying with a classmate. His eyes wander to the entrance of the kitchen. He isn't surprised when Karma isn't there, there's a good chance that his redheaded friend went back to his room at the beginning of the conversation. Instead of answering his father, Nagisa gets out of his chair, leaves the kitchen, and heads down the hall to his room.

Bewildered, follows his son to his room. He's about to say something pertaining to his earlier question but stops short when Nagisa opens the door to his room. Inside, on the bed, is a redheaded teen sleeping. Nagisa looks just as surprised as him, although for different reasons.

The smaller blunette quickly approaches the bed and attempts to shake the other boy awake. "Karma, wake up! MY dad wants to talk to you. How'd you even fall asleep so fast, anyway?" After a few minutes of Nagisa shaking the other teen, Karma finally wakes up. _It's kind of funny how the redhead is such a deep sleeper now, but wakes up so easily during class._ Nagisa ponders as Karma sits up on the bed.

Karma's eyes immediately fall on the blue-haired man standing at the doorway. Since he's Nagisa's dad, Karma pays attention when the man addresses him. "I take it you're the one Nagisa is staying with?"

Karma nods and sits up a bit straighter. "Yes, as of last night."

"So, I'm assuming that you've met Nagisa's mother." Kaiyo says.

Karma can't stop from smirking as he answers the question. "Yeah, I've met Nagisa's mother."

The grin slightly unnerves the grown man but he continues on with his interview. "Does she know that _you_ have Nagisa?" There's always the chance that Hiromi thinks Nagisa ran way and decided not to tell him.

The redhead's grin grows even wider, to the point that Nagisa is a little curious about why he's so happy. "She knows."

Karma's answer doesn't sit well with . His former wife is not the type of person that would hand their son over to some kid she barely knows. When she isn't upset over something he does, she's usually _very_ protective over Nagisa. And, he honestly doesn't feel right leaving his son with the evilly smirking teen on the bed. He glances over to Nagisa, who's taken a seat next to the redhead on the bed. Kaiyo notices the way Nagisa sits nonchalantly next to the other teen, looking slightly interested in but otherwise not affected by the other teen's evil grin. More importantly, what happened that made Hiromi willing to give Nagisa away?

"She let Nagisa stay at your house, without any arguing or anything?" He watches Karma's reaction. The teen's face hardens into something a little more serious but the tall adolescent manages to keep his smirk. Also being interested in the answer to the question, Nagisa stares at Karma as well.

"It was less of an argument and more of me _persuading_ her to let Nagisa stay at my place for a while." Karma leans back onto the bed and glances over at Nagisa, who seems slightly put off by his vagueness. He doesn't want to let the blunette know that his mother traded him for a promotion but he still needs to answer the questions Nagisa's dad asks him if he wants there to be any chance of Nagisa continuing to stay with him.

ponders the boy's answer. From the bored expression on the redhead's face, he knows that he's not going to get any information out of the teen. He turns to Nagisa now.

"Nagisa, do you want to continue school here?" He asks.

Nagisa answers immediately, "Yes, I do." His determined expression catches Kaiyo slightly off guard. The man would very much like to take Nagisa home with him right now so they could pretend that Hiromi Shiota is nothing but a nightmare both of them were having. The look on his son's face tells him otherwise. It is pretty obvious that Nagisa likes where he is now and doesn't care much for going back home with his father. Plus, he doesn't want Nagisa to know him as the one that pulled him away from all his friends and schoolmates.

He turns back to Karma. "What's your name?"

Karma answers in a bored tone. "Karma Akabane." The last name sounds slightly familiar to Kaiyo, probably something Hiromi mentioned a while back.

The man also introduces himself. "Ashitaka Kaiyo, Nagisa's dad." Karma just nods as a response since he doesn't care much for the man's name, just his relation to Nagisa. studies the teen a little longer before beckoning Nagisa and turning to leave the room. Nagisa glances at Karma, who's still laying on the bed, before standing to his follow his father.

When Nagisa exits the room, he shuts the door behind himself. His dad is leaning against the wall, a focused expression on his face. They both stand awkwardly in the silent hall. Thankfully, Nagisa speaks.

"So…what do you think?" The taller blunette stops thinking and glances over at his son.

"Nagisa, I honestly don't think I'm in the sort of position to judge what you do at this point in your life. Also, I'm pretty sure that you don't want to leave Kunugigaoka."

Nagisa nods. "So, what are you thinking about?"

"Well, I traveled three hours to get here, Nagisa, I was thinking that maybe we could eat lunch later."

Nagisa smiles. Despite having a somewhat detached relationship with his father, he still enjoys the little amount of time they spend together. "Okay, I'll tell Karma."

Nagisa disappears into the room, making sure to close the door behind him. Karma's standing up now and is digging through the vanity. Nagisa addresses him.

"Karma," The redhead looks up. "My dad wants me to go out for lunch with him, since he traveled a long time to get here."

Karma nods. "Okay, I'll leave, but can you tell me what you need from here for my house?"

Nagisa looks at him oddly before answering. "I left the kit and my other school supplies. That's about it. Why'd you need to know?"

"It'll be easier if I bring the stuff to my house than coming here again later." Nagisa nods in agreement, although he doesn't want Karma carrying his stuff home, he has to agree with the redhead's reasoning.

"Nagisa?" Both of the boys hear on the other side of the door. Nagisa smiles at Karma. "See you later, Karma." He says before leaving the room.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh my god, I don't quite know how this chapter turned out sooo boring and sooo pitifully crappy. Please forgive me! Next chapter I'm moving on to the fun stuff! (KaruNagi Fluff and other stuff). Please review and all that jazz. BTW, since I'm pretty sure none you guys care for reading about Nagisa eating lunch with his dad, so that won't be in Chapter ten.**

 **If I update soon I'll see you soon,**

 **Palpex**


	10. Midnight Run

**Chapter 10: Midnight Run**

The blunette walks down the street alone. It's dark now, as he suspected it would be by the time he finished "lunch" with his father. He and his dad hang out about once every three months and when they do his father makes sure to make it count. That means "lunch" includes a stop at a sushi place, a shopping trip that includes Mr. Ashitaka buying Nagisa clothes for males (something Ms. Shiota does not do), a trip to the movies, and a small "unplanned" detour to the nearby amusement park. Though he did have a lot of fun, while at the sushi place, his father mentioned something that made him think.

 _The elder of the two blunettes places his chopsticks on his still full plate before leaning back in his booth. He's pondering something and blue-eyed boy sitting across from him knows it. The adolescent places the cup he's been sipping from back on the table and locks eyes with the older male. Sighing, the man speaks of what's on his mind. "Nagisa, what was it that your redheaded friend did to make Hiromi change her mind?"_

 _Staring blankly at his father, the boy racks his brain for an answer. When he can't find anything, he shrugs. "I don't know. He talked with mother alone and next thing I knew I didn't have to leave Kunugigaoka." Now, the blunette's curious of what his friend did to make his stubborn mother go back on her word. She's never, ever been the sort to quit when it came to what she wants._

Now, Nagisa is making his way to Karma's house, his temporary home, his mind still wondering what Karma did to persuade his mother. His father had offered to drop him off, seeing as the bags in his hands are pretty heavy. The blunette had declined the offer, saying that it is late and his father should probably start his trip home. The blunette shivers slightly at the cold and grips at the filled bags in his chilled hands. He continues up the street, until finally he sees Karma's house, like a beacon in the dark shadow of the star dotted night.

Shifting the bags into one arm, Nagisa rings the doorbell. Within a few moments, the lock on the door clicks. Wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans, Karma opens the door. The redhead quickly lets Nagisa in and closes the door upon noticing the blunette's baggage. Glancing at the smaller teen with a teasing smirk, the redhead speaks in a mischievous tone. "Eh, must've been some lunch, seeing as it's," he glances at his watch, "Eleven-Ten." He pauses and tilts his head to the side. "I was wondering where you went."

Nagisa sets the bags down and starts to tell the redhead where he's been all day. "Well, I went to a sushi restaurant with my dad and then we went shopping for clothes since spring is coming up. After that we went to see Sonic Ninja Two and then to the amusement park," He holds up a Sonic Ninja key chain and places it in the taller teen's hand, "I won it in a shooting game…kind of felt like I was a cheater, being trained and all."

Karma smirks as he studies the keychain in his palm. He loops it around his index finger and starts to spin it, watching the black blur. "Thanks, Nagisa. Anyway, while you were gone, I decided to get you set up in one of the guest rooms. It's next to my room." No need to put all the extra rooms in the mostly empty house to waste.

Nagisa acknowledges Karma with a nod and leans over to pick up a bag. The blunette is slightly surprised when Karma helps him with the bag, then again, Karma has proved to be a pretty considerate person over the past few days. Both teens leave the parlor and make their way down the hallway, one door pass Karma's room, they stop.

The redhead opens the door with his free hand and lets Nagisa into the room before letting the door shut. When Nagisa enters the room he quickly looks it over. The rather large room includes a bed about the same size as Karma's, a nightstand, and a dresser, all of the furniture painted the same cream color. On the bed is the assassination kit and on the wooden floor is his duffel bag while his school books lay on the nightstand. "Thanks for bringing my stuff, Karma."

The mentioned redhead waves his hand at the comment. "No problem." Nagisa glances over to what is most likely the closet and puts his bag of clothes in it. Karma moves to put the other bag in there too, but Nagisa moves to stop him. "I actually have something in there I need to take out."

Karma gives the bag to the smaller adolescent before walking over to sit on the blue and green striped comforter on the blunette's bed. The blunette digs through the bag for a few minutes before taking out a blue notebook. He places the notebook on the floor next to his duffel bag before placing the second shopping bag in the closet.

Karma leans back and studies Nagisa for a while before speaking. "Of course you got a notebook. I wonder how many notebooks you've gone through since the beginning of this school year," he states with a chuckle at Nagisa's bordering on obsessive note taking. Blushing in embarrassment, the smaller teen mumbles as he looks at the ground. "Thirteen; writing information down on paper makes it easier for me to understand it."

The redhead twirls the keychain around his index finger as he leans back onto the bed, wondering how a person can go through thirteen notebooks in just four months, especially when they've-not him, of course, he never takes notes-only used two notebooks for Korosensei's lessons. _It's kind of cute_. He thinks, but quickly pushes the thought to the back of his head. After turning onto his stomach and watching as Nagisa starts to take the stuff out of his duffel bag, Karma sits in silence for a few minutes before asking his question. "What do you even write about?"

Nagisa stops working and looks up into Karma's questioning eyes. The blunette racks his brain for a few seconds, sometimes _he_ doesn't even know what he writes about. He shrugs, "Just random things like observations and stuff that pops into my head during the day…I actually brought them with me."

Karma attempts to muffle his laughter at the last part but fails miserably. Nagisa finds himself blushing in embarrassment once again. The redhead grins lazily at the blushing blunette and manages to say through his laughing fit. "Again, Nagisa, your priorities were obviously messed up when you ran away. I mean, you brought _thirteen_ notebooks with you."

Nagisa keeps his head down as he continues to pull stuff out of his bag, managing to protest, "Notebooks are _very_ important, Karma." Sadly, the redhead is too busy laughing to hear him.

* * *

After about an hour of watching the blunette organize his stuff, Karma gets bored. So he starts to sigh. Nagisa continues to put his stuff up, trying his best to ignore the other teen. This proves to be difficult for the small boy, as the longer he ignores the redhead, the louder the sighs get.

By the time Karma starts letting out what resembles more of an airy scream than a sigh, Nagisa decides that he might as well communicate with the redhead. "Something wrong, Karma?"

The redhead smiles at the acknowledgement and lets out another sigh as he answers in a whiny voice. "I'm sooo bored, Nagisa." The blunette looks up from his stuff and smiles apologetically at the whining redhead. "I'm sorry, Karma, but I can't do anything to mend that."

Karma sits up on the bed and stares intently at the smaller teen, who is now finishing up with the organizing of his stuff. He smirks at the content expression on the blunette's face as he folds his last shirt. "Are you done, Nagisa?"

Nagisa smiles and nods. Karma looks at the other teen and leans closer to him from his spot on the bed. His tone reeks of mischief as he questions the blunette. "You want to do something?"

The small adolescent glances anxiously at the red-haired teen. "I guess." He says, slightly nervouse about what the redhead is planning.

* * *

Nagisa stares at the aisles of bagged chips and artificially flavored packaged candies, now fully regretting his earlier answer to Karma's inquiry. The blunette shivers slightly at the shrill coolness that all convenience stores seem to have. Occasionally, he sees a tuft of red hair bob over the tops of the shelves. Tiredly glancing at the clock on the wall, Nagisa sighs. _12:42 AM._

 _Why are we out so late?_ He ponders as Karma appears in front of him with an arm full of snacks and drinks-mostly coffee. "Why'd you get all that stuff?" Nagisa says as he points at the redhead's load. Smirking as an answer, the redhead walks over to the counter and continues to stare at the blunette as he purchases the items.

When he returns to the blunette, he answers the question. "We're going somewhere, Nagisa."

The adolescent stares at him blankly, lacking the ability to fully comprehend his words for a second. When he his brain starts working again, he says bluntly, "It's pass midnight and you want to go somewhere. People usually sleep at this time, Karma."

The redhead stares at him for a moment before responding, "You work up crazy early today, a _Saturday_ , why can't I stay up a little late?" He says, feigning a small pout for good measure.

Nagisa replies curtly, "It's _Sunday_ , Karma. We are forty-two minutes into Sunday, yet we are at a convenience store and are going to someplace I don't even know about."

Karma nods and acts like he's truly looking into Nagisa's reasoning before promptly leaning closer to the blunette. Slinging his free arm over the other teen's shoulder, Karma tugs Nagisa closer to him. He sounds disturbingly persuasive as he whispers into the blue-haired boy's ear. "Come with me, Nagisa. Aren't you curious as to what you could be doing tonight rather than sleeping? It's not even a school night. Plus, there's a place I want to show you."

"So, you actually have a plan? We won't be running around past midnight without a motive, right?" The blue-eyed boy inquires. When the redhead nods, he sighs. "Okay, I'll come."

Karma immediately unslings his arm from the blunette's shoulder and instead grabs his hand. Swiftly, he drags the other teen through the automatic doors of the store and into the chilled night.

A light blush dusts the blunette's cheek as Karma pulls him down the road. His blue twin tails dance in the cool nightly winds and the hand that's not being grabbed grips onto the hem of his jacket. It takes a while for the blunette to figure it out, but soon he realizes that they're heading towards the school.

When they stop at the base of the E-Class mountain, Nagisa questions the redhead. "Karma, what are we doing here?" The questioned redhead lets go of the small hand and looks down at the curious blunette with his trademark teasing smile.

"I said there was a place I wanted to show you, and that place happens to be on this mountain." He smiles and grabs the younger teen's sleeve before gesturing to the trail leading up to the mountaintop classroom. Nagisa follows behind obediently, rather curious of a place on the mountain that they haven't yet explored. Surprisingly, though, after only two and a half minutes of walking, Karma tugs him off the trail. They were still near the base of the mountain, one of the places they didn't go during PE since any passerby could easily spot middle school students dangerously flipping through the trees and get suspicious. Although Nagisa would love to inquire about where they are going, he decides against it since he's pretty sure his friend wouldn't answer anyway. The amber-eyed teen continues to lead the way, ascending up the mountain in a seemingly random way, only occasionally stopping to look at a tree or rock. _He's probably looking for landmarks to lead the way._ Nagisa concludes as he watches the much taller teen.

The more petite of the two finds himself yawning as they trek through the forest. Although moving fast, thanks to the training, Nagisa can't help but be tired so late in the night. Although at this time he would much rather be sleeping, he can't stop himself from anticipating what the redhead wants to show him.

Finally, when they come to a dense wall of leaves, the redhead stops walking. Nagisa stares at the leaves, squinting to see if there's anything special about them. When he doesn't find anything out of the ordinary, he turns to the redheaded teen. "Karma, are we going to go or not?" He pauses, "Because I'm pretty sure you didn't drag me out in the middle of the night to stare at leaves."

Karma smirks that damn annoying smirk of his before swiftly sweeping the leaves aside. At first, Nagisa can't see anything it dark cover of night, but, when his eyes adjust, he's left awestruck.

Buildings sparkle as crisp moonlight hits them and trees stand like dark, shadowy titans. Little squares of light appear on far off buildings, as the workaholics of Kunugigaoka continue functioning in the dark night. The stream that filled their class pool somehow remains visible within the lush greenery of the mountainside and looks like a wonderful mix of murky black and creamy white as the permanent crescent moon shines down on it.

Instinctively, Nagisa takes a step towards the beautiful scenery, only to be pulled out of his amazement when he doesn't feel the safe solidity of Earth under his feet. He lets out squeak of surprise when he realizes he's falling. His hand is quickly grabbed by the boy above him and the blunette finds himself growing nervous as he reaches up with his other hand and grips the redhead's wrist. Though he knows he shouldn't, the smaller teen looks down and frowns. After seeing the height he's hanging from, the adolescent is pretty sure that if he falls his class is going to lose _two_ members before graduation.

He feels Karma grab his wrist and the blunette looks up at the other teen. Blue orbs lock with amber ones as the redhead attempts to pull him up. Nagisa's foot quickly catches on the side of the cliff and pulls himself onto flat ground with help from the taller teen. Once on ground level, the blunette stares at Karma as the latter teen lets out a sigh. "I didn't think you would walk right off." Blushing slightly, the blue-eyed boy looks away. "I was slightly distracted," he says as the redhead drops to the ground and sits, taking the small blunette with him. Nagisa sits next to the other teen, letting his jean-clad legs dangle over the side of the cliff.

Karma reaches over the blunette and picks two drinks out of the bag he dropped a few moments ago. Both of them being canned coffees. Anxiously looking at the cylinders, Nagisa sighs, his former interest of the view now flowing out of him, "Why are we even here?"

Karma looks at him and brings his hand up to his chin as if in deep thought. A smirk falls upon his lips. "Because we can be. I mean, there's no one to tell you or me that we can't be here. Isn't that a good enough reason to do something?"

Nagisa turns away from the other teen and looks out at the magnificent view. His mind wonders to his mother, who could be any one of the many shadows moving within the yellow squares along the horizon. _Yep, there's no one to tell me when to be home now._ He turns back to the redhead with a smile.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

* * *

 **A/N: Just a filler chapter. But, it still felt nice to write this, seeing as I've been so busy and have had so many ideas in my head but I couldn't find the time to type them up. Thanks for the 100+ follows! I'm so glad people are reading this! Please tell me your thoughts on this chapter!**

 **I'll be back,**

 **Palpex**


	11. Determination and Separate Sunrises

**Chapter 11: Determination and Separate Sunrises**

Nagisa stares at the wall, his eyes roaming in false interest. He is, in fact, not very interested in the beige colored wall. His mind is wondering to what's on the other side, just within a meter of him but unreachable because of a thin but-annoyingly so-present wall. He can even hear what's on the other side, the soft snoring, the periodical creaks of a bed's frame, everything else forms a low, stagnant hum; the ignorable bass of the exceedingly predictable composition.

Listening to this song of sorts seems to be the only thing keeping his anchored at the moment, the only thing keeping his mind from wandering to other things. He briefly turns away from the wall to get a glimpse of the retro clock sitting on the cream-colored bedside table, its cruel hands seemingly unmoving on its ivory face, mocking him as it appears to stay on the same time for hours on end. At a quarter till five in the morning, the sun is still refusing to rise while the eternal crescent moon sits in the far west, milking its reign over the sky.

At this time, Nagisa Shiota would normally be asleep, not staring at a wall. In fact, as soon as he and Karma came back from their midnight excursion, he had simply curled up into the bed and fallen asleep like an infant. And, only minutes later, -like an infant-he woke up. Unlike an (regular) infant, his waking up came with a rapid heartbeat and breaths coming out in short pants. Such symptoms can only be attributed to a wet dream or a bad dream. Unluckily(?), he got the latter.

While he did not remember the depressing short burst of an overactive brain in a tired body, there was a deep, familiar imprint of emotion in the back of his mind. Finding the onslaught of emotion's source brought on a tip-of-the tongue-feeling for Nagisa, a feeling the blunette, like many, was not really fond of. So, he waited until he fell asleep again. This time, the dream was much more vivid, leaving a deeper and easier to understand imprint on him. He woke up with a start, sweat budding on his forehead. _Mother_.

The word came to the tip of his tongue and _jumped off_ before he even had time to realize he woke up. He didn't want to go back to sleep. He didn't want to close his eyes. Because, now that the source became clear, he couldn't avoid seeing her face anytime he did either of those things. Her face leering at him, doubting his worth, asking him why he's the way he is. It was enough to send a tear trickling down his cheek, enough for him to curl into a protective ball and stare at the wall separating him and Karma, willing the sun to rise again and _hopefully_ scare off the demons that his nightly solitude seemed to bring.

Knowing that Karma was only a few feet away brought some peace to him, a sense of security that kept (most) cynical thoughts at bay. So, now he continues watching the wall, waiting for the yellow beams of light to stretch across the east facing wall.

 _It's taking too long. It shouldn't be taking this long. The sun should be in the sky by now! I should be able to get up now! Why am I so tired? Why can't I sleep? Why do I keep seeing_ her _face? So sleepy…can't sleep…it hurts. I don't like this._

A few groans and huffs escape his lips during his inward rant and, to make matters worse, the quiet orchestra on the other side of the wall has disappeared. Nagisa curls further into himself, a few tears edging out of his eyes as they mourn the loss of the peacefully humming music, mourn the loss of his momentary anchor. The young blunette has been homesick before and could even remember his younger self being carried away on his father's back a few times in the dead of night after failing to complete a sleep over.

But what he's feeling right now is more than fear of being away from home, it's a fear that despite being away, home's still following him. The thought sends a shiver down his curved spine and he grips his sides harder, failing to notice the creak of a door opening, not realizing someone has entered the room until they're already seated on the bed beside him.

"Nagisa?" The voice scares Nagisa more than it should and he scampers to the floor. _Mother…she's_ really _coming to get me._

The thought reverberates through Nagisa's mind with terrified amazement.

He looks up at the dark silhouette leaning towards him from on the bed and squints. As logic prevails, he realizes it's not his mother on the bed, as she would never direct a worried expression his way, dark red eyebrows creasing confusedly.

"Karma? Why are you in here?" The question comes out quiet, the blunette being quite reluctant to speak. Instead of an answer, Nagisa receives an outstretched hand, waiting to be grabbed and to be of use. Nagisa takes him up on the nonverbal offer and gets up onto the bed, deciding not to curl up into a ball despite wanting to disappear from the scenario.

The two sit in silence momentarily until Karma speaks, still choosing not to answer Nagisa's original question, "Are you tired, Nagisa?"

The smaller teen answers slowly, "Yeah…it's not even six o' clock."

"Then why aren't you asleep?"

Nagisa looks up at him after gathering enough strength to muster up a fake smile and says jokingly, "The sky's awake so I'm awake."

"We both know the sky is not awake, Nagisa." Karma intones bitterly, cringing internally at both Nagisa's bad attempt at changing the subject and his choosing to reference _that_ movie in said attempt.

He adds on in a gentler tone, "What's the real reason?"

Nagisa doesn't answer, opting to stare at the floor. Karma looks at him, trying to guess what brought on the silence but not willing to ask the question a second time. For the next few minutes, they sit in silence, neither of them willing to speak.

The blue-haired adolescent breaks the silence, "I can't sleep."

The taller of the two teens is about to ask him to elaborate when the younger of the two does it for him. "I've been trying but I just can't. I'm so tired but I can't close my eyes for more than a blink. Every time I do, I see her face and hear her jeering…I don't want to sleep if that's what's waiting in my dreams."

No tears fall as Nagisa finishes his short explanation and he waits for Karma's response. The bed shifts and Nagisa's pretty much positive that Karma's getting up to leave when instead he falls beside Nagisa on the bed with a plop.

"Why don't we try this?" The voice breaks through the darkness beside blunette's ear and the small adolescent shifts and turns on the bed to be face-to-face with Karma. A blush blossoms on his face like a lily pad blooming during the summer's start.

"What are you doing?" He manages to croak out, refusing to meet Karma's eyes while asking the question. As an answer, the redhead shifts again on the rather small twin-sized bed, lessening the space between them.

"Just try going to sleep." Karma murmurs sleepily, ending the sentence with a yawn. It only takes a few minutes for the orchestra that was on the other side of the wall to resurrect in Nagisa's own room. The blunette can't help liking this situation more.

His eyes travel over Karma's sleeping face. The way its usual sharpness is dulled is a detail Nagisa does not fail to notice. The teen also can't help but notice the way the redhead's lips open ever-so-slightly with every intake of breath. Being this close to the other teen sends a pleasing chill down his spine. He likes the feel of the short spike of exhilaration.

Sometime between desperately trying to stay awake to point out details about Karma's sleeping face and falling out of conscience, something hits Nagisa- _this situation is_ weird. The thought seems to rise in him and swell for a moment, before slinking to the back of his mind as the blunette shuts his eyes and tries to ignore it…only to come back full force seconds later. Nagisa's eyes pop open and he immediately glances up to his oh-so-close _friend_.

Right, he's a _friend_ , regrettably nothing more and thankfully nothing less. A _friend_ is not supposed to be burdensome to another _friend_. A _friend_ should return favors, not just take. A _friend_ shouldn't grow _flustered_ every other time he stares upon his like-gendered _friend_ …in his mind, the word "friend" is taking on an increasingly negative connotation.

He studies the redhead's face for the second time that night and a slight (barely recognizable) blush settles on his face for a moment. A part of him would just _love_ to bury into Karma's chest, fall asleep, and forget the thought that is torturing him. The same fraction of his self would even rather focus on his mother's indestructible home in the back of his head than talk about the current _issue_ at hand. This bit of him is loud and boisterous, carrying a boldness that Nagisa's own oxymoronic timorousness usually smothered without a second's hesitation.

Another part of him, the more diffident, yet more expressed and heeded part of his personality sits silent, it's constant presence speaking louder than if it were to actually let it's temporarily-mute opinions resonate throughout Nagisa's self. The thoughts resonate loud and clear despite Nagisa wishing that they wouldn't-that they weren't even _present_.

Nagisa scoots away from the larger teen sharing the bed. The small, lonely gap widens as the smaller of the two continues to inch away from the redhead, trying not to jostle him in his obvious state of rest. The blunette checks Karma's face every few seconds or so every time he moves in the bed, watching for any stirs or signs of waking from the source of his present inner turmoil.

When he's on the edge of the bed, he swings a foot-than another-over the side and when he's standing on his two feet, he ponders his decision, proudly evaluating his own self-restraint. But even though he knows what he did needed to be done for his-and possibly Karma's-sake, sadness starts to seep into the cracks of his determination as he stares at the redhead, who's hand is twitching as if to grasp something and Nagisa's hand subconsciously twitches in response. His heart aches even more when Karma rolls over on the bed, a barely recognizable frown forming on his sleeping face as his hand continues to itch for something that's not there.

Nagisa turns away, sure that he if he continues to observe his _friend_ his determination will waver to a point of dissipation. Set upon his decision, he approaches the wooden rocking chair in the corner of the room, its withering frame loaded up with typical guestroom blankets and pillows that looked as if they hadn't been touched since they were placed in the burdened object.

He grabs a pillow and blanket to match, shifting so nothing spills from the chair and nothing falls from his hands. He takes his necessities and sets up a small sleeping area on one side of the room, away from the bed where Karma carries out his reprieve, his sleeping self slightly disturbed at his subconscious realization that the bed is emptier than it should be. _But_ , Nagisa considers silently, _maybe this is how it should be_.

The blunette lowers himself onto half of the blanket and wraps the other side around his curled-up body. And, as his head hits the pillow, he reassures himself redundantly that he was right to make this decision.

Soon, a second peaceful orchestra starts in the small guestroom, leaving both of their own soft pieces intermingling and lining up in tense but oddly serene harmony.

* * *

Karma is the first to wake, bringing an end to the quiet concert. Sun rays make their way through the window, cruelly making a home of his scrunching face. His sleepy gaze roams the room once and gets a surprise when he realizes that he's not in his room but instead in the sparsely decorated guestroom. It occurs to him that this is not a place he would normally sleep. His minds dwells on the topic, finally offering an explanation when it remembers the events from the night before.

He glances to his side, getting a shock when there's no small statured blunette sleeping there. It comes to him that his friend might have gotten up already to make breakfast, an activity he is sure that Nagisa enjoys more than most males his age. One whiff of the scent-lacking air contradicts this thought easily, though.

His eyes roam the room curiously, wondering as to where his blue-haired went to. Quickly, he takes note of the blanket-clad lump near the entrance to the closet, rising and falling subtly in a breathing pattern. Lethargically, he peels himself from the bed and makes his way to the not-so-inconspicuous lump.

Thinking hard as to why his friend is on the floor rather than being in the bed with him, he pulls a part of the blanket away from Nagisa's sleeping form. The blunette stirs quietly at the action and a minute grimace makes its way onto the face Karma's so used to seeing with a shy smile. Rapidly, the grimace grows and his eyebrows fold, unfettered by the teen's unconscious state.

Almost instinctively, he reaches out and cups the side of Nagisa's face, studying him with a worried expression he realizes he rarely shows for anyone but the effeminately-framed blunette. His mind reflects on last night's events and he grows increasingly positive that thoughts of his mother are plaguing his sleep.

What never occurs to the quite intelligent redhead is that _he_ might be the cause of Nagisa's scrunching brow.

* * *

 **Sorry for being absent for so long. Honestly, there's not much of an excuse for why I was gone other than the fact that I was pretty much restricting myself from writing. What I mean by that is that I have many ideas for the stories I'm authoring but I'm finding it extremely difficult to put them on paper or even record them at all. Seriously, this medium-length chapter took a whole month to finish when before it only took a lazy weekend. Anyway, I hope you guys didn't forget the plot between now and the last time I updated.**

 **I hope to be more diligent,**

 **Palpex**


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